HlBRAM OF CONGRESS.* 
I t 



I *m*i£ _ J&s 

i UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. 



CIRCULAR 



FROM 



U.9. 



THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE- 
" EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, TIMBER CULTURE, 
AND OTHER LAWS. 




V 



ISSUED SEPTEMBER 1, 1879. 




WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1879. 






\*\ 



o 



\* 






INDEX. 

General Circular of September 1, 1879. 



Page. 

Actual settler has a preference right to enter— as against whom 14 

Additional and new homestead entries within railroad limits 16, 17 

Additional homestead entries for soldiers and sailors 19, 20 

Adjoining farm homesteads 15, 16 

Appeals from decisions of Commissioner 36,37 

Appeals from decisions of registers and receivers 35,36 

Blank forms in cash entries 70 

Blank forms in desert-land entries 86-91 

Blank forms in homestead entries , . 75-85 

Blank forms in pre-emption entries 71-74 

Blank forms in timber-culture entries 85,86 

Bounty land warrants 1 6, 7 

Cash entries at ordinary private sale 6 

Claims of widows and minor orphan children for homesteads '. 13, 18 

Commissions allowed to registers and receivers 21, 22 

Commutation of homestead entries 15 

Contests of homestead and timber-culture entries : 14, 25 

Credit for services during the late war 17,18 

Declaratory statements — homestead 18 

Declaratory statements — pre-emption 8, 9 

Desert-land entries 27-29 

Duties of registers and receivers 37, 38 

Entries in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 22,23 

Fees for reducing testimony to writing in contested cases 40 

Fees in homestead entries 13, 21, 22 

Fees in pre-emptions 39 

Final proof 1 11,12,13 

Grasshopper extension laws 9, 10 

Heirs of deceased homestead parties 13 

Homestead entries 10 

Indian homesteads 20, 21 

Land-warrant locations 6, 7 

Land warrants are not issued for services in late war 7 

Notices in contests— how served 14 

Only States and Territories containing public lands 5 

Perj ury— how punished 57 

Pre-emption filings and entries 8, 9, 10 

Publication of intention to make final proof 10, 12, 13 

Receiving illegal fees — penalty 38 

Register's liability for giving false information, &c 41 

Relinquishments of entries : 14, 17 

Returns from district land officers 37,38 

Revised Statutes in reference to homesteads 48 

Revised Statutes in reference to pre-emptions 41 

Saline lands 29, 30 

Soldiers and sailors' homestead entries 17, 18, 19, 20 

Stone and timber lands 34,85 

Timber-culture entries 23-27 

Town-site entries 30-34 

United States land offices 93 

(3) 



CIRCULAR. 



DEPAETMENT OF THE INTERIOR., 
General Land Office, 

Washington, D. C, September 1, 1879. 

The following is communicated in reference to the manner of acquiring 
title to the public lands under different laws of Congress : 

The public lands referred to are included only ^within the States of Ala- 
bama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, 
Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, 
Nevada, Ohio, Oregon, Wisconsin, and the Territories of Arizona, Dakota, 
Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. These 
States and Territories, with the exception of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 
are divided into land districts, in each of which there is a land office estab- 
lished by law, with a register and a receiver in attendance for the sale or 
other disposal of the public lands therein. See sections 2234 to 2247 of 
the Revised Statutes of the United States, copies hereto attached, No. 1 ; 
also list of land offices, on last page. Parties so desiring may obtain at 
these offices any proper information regarding vacant public lands. 

Of agricultural public lands there are two'classes: the one class at $1.25 
per acre, which is designated as minimum, and the other at $2.50 per acre, 
or double minimum. 

Title may be acquired by purchase at public sale, or by ordinary " private 
entry," and in virtue of the pre-emption, homestead, timber-culture, and 
other laws. 

BY PTTKCHASE AT PUBLIC SALE. 

This may be done where lands are "offered" at public auction to the 
highest bidder, either pursuant to proclamation by the President or public 
notice given, in accordance with directions from the^General Land Office. 

BY "PRIVATE ENTRY" OR LOCATION. 

The lands liable to disposal in this manner are those which have been 
offered at public sale, which were not then sold, and which have not since 
been reserved or otherwise withdrawn from market. In this class of 
offered and unreserved public lands the following steps may be taken to 
acquire title : 

(5) 



6 

CASH PURCHASES. 

The applicant will first present a written [application to the register for 
the district in which the land desired is situated, describing the tract he 
wishes to purchase, giving its area, form No. 14. Thereupon the register, 
if the tract is vacant, will so certify to the receiver, stating the price, and 
the applicant must then pay the amount of the purchase money. 

The receiver will then issue his receipt for the money paid, in duplicate, 
giving to the purchaser a duplicate receipt, form No. 15. The register 
will then issue his certificate of purchase, form No. 16. At the close of 
the month the register and receiver will make returns of the sale to the 
General Land Office, from which, when the proceedings are found regular, 
a patent or complete title will be issued ; and on surrender of the duplicate 
receipt such patent will be delivered, at the option of the patentee, either 
by the Commissioner at Washington or by the register at the district land 
office. 

When patents are ready for delivery, they will in all cases be transmitted 
to the local office where the location or entry was made, where they can be 
obtained by the party entitled thereto, upon surrender of the duplicate 
receipt, or certificate, as the case may be; unless the duplicate shall have 
been previously filed in this office with a request that the patent be deliv- 
ered as requested by the person sending the same; and in no case will the 
patent be delivered either from this or the local office except upon receipt 
of such duplicate, or, in case of its loss from any cause, upon the filing in 
lieu of the same an affidavit made by the present bona fide owner of the 
land, accounting for the loss of the same, and also showing ownership of 
the tracts or a portion thereof embraced in the patent. 

In case the duplicate has been duly assigned by the locator, by a valid 
transfer in accordance with the laws governing transfer of realty in the 
State where the land is situated, such assignment will be recognized by 
this office and patent issued accordingly, provided the duplicate with the 
assignment thereon shall be filed in this office prior to the issuing of patent • 
but in no case will a patent be canceled for the purpose of making a reissue 
in the name of the assignee, where such assignment is not in possession of 
the office prior to date of the patent. Transfers of this kind must in all 
cases comply strictly with the law of the place, and if the assignor be a 
married man, and the statute requires the wife to join in the deed, it must 
be complied with, and in case of failure in this or other vital point the 
patent will follow strictly the recital of the certificate and issue only in the 
name of the original purchaser. 

LOCATIONS WITH WARRANTS. 

Application must be made as in cash cases, but must be accompanied by 
a warrant duly assigned as the consideration for the land; yet where the 



tract is $2.50 per acre, the party, in addition to the surrendered warrant, 
must pay in cash $1.25 per acre, as the warrant is in satisfaction of only 
so many acres at $1.25 per acre, or furnish a warrant of such denomination 
as will, at the legal value of $1.25 per acre, cover the rated price of the 
land. For example: a tract of 40 acres of land, held at $2.50 per acre, 
can be paid for with a warrant calling for 40 acres and the payment of $50 
in cash, or by surrendering an eighty-acre warrant for the same — the 40 
acres to be in full satisfaction for the said location. Or a tract of 80 acres, 
rated at $2.50 per acre, can be paid for by the surrender of two eighty-acre 
warrants. If there is a small excess in the area of the tract over the quan- 
tity called for on the face of the warrant in any case, such excess may be 
paid for in money. 

A duplicate certificate of location will then be furnished the party, to be 
held until the patent is delivered, as in cases of cash sales. 

The following fees are chargeable by the land officers^ and the several 
amounts must be paid at the time of location : 

For a 40-acre warrant. 50 cents each to the register and receiver — total, $1.00. • 

For a 60-acre warrant, 75 cents " " " " 1.50. 

For an 80-acre warrant, $1.00 " " " " 2.00. 

For a 120-acre warrant, $1.50 " " " " 3.00. 

For a 160-acre warrant, $2.00 " " " " 4.00. 

The above has reference to certain warrants issued under the act of Con- 
gress of March 3, 1855, and previous acts, giving public land as a bounty 
for military services rendered prior to the passage of the acts in former 
wars of the Republic. The bounties given by law for military services in 
the late civil war were not given in land, but in money. The only priv- 
ileges granted to soldiers and sailors on account of military services rendered 
by them during the late civil war, in connection with the public lands, are 
provided for in sections 2304 to 2309 of the Revised Statutes, (copies 
attached, No. 1,) allowing homestead entries to be made by them on con- 
dition of residence on the entered tracts, with cultivation of the soil, for a 
prescribed period. 

AGRICULTURAL-COLLEGE SCRIP. 

This scrip may be used — 

First. In the location of land at "private entry" but when so used is 
only applicable to lands not mineral which may be subject to private entry 
at $1.25 per acre, and is restricted to a technical "quarter section" — that 
is, land embraced by the quarter-section lines indicated on the official plats 
of survey ; or it may be located on a part of a " quarter section," where 
such part is taken as in full for a quarter; but it cannot be applied to 
different subdivisions to make an area equivalent to a quarter section. 
The manner of proceeding to acquire title with this class of paper is the 



8 

same as in cash and warrant cases, the fees to be paid being the same as 
on warrants. The location of this scrip at private entry is restricted to 
three sections in each township of land, and one million acres in any one 
State. 

Second. In payment of pre-emption claims, in the same manner and 
under the same rules and regulations as govern the application to pre-emp- 
tions of military land warrants ; this, too, without regard to the limitation 
as to the quantity located in a township or in any State. 

Third. In payment for homesteads commuted under section 2301 of the 
Revised Statutes of the United States, (copy attached.) 

PRE-EMPTIONS ADMISSIBLE TO THE EXTENT OF ONE QUARTER SEC- 
TION, OR ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ACRES. 

These are admitted under sections 2257 to 2288 of the Revised Statutes 
of the United States, copies of which sections are hereto attached, upon 
"offered" and "unoffered" lands, and upon any of the uusurveyed lands 
belonging to the United States to which the Indian title is extinguished, 

O O © 7 

although in the case of unsurveyed lands no definite proceedings can be had 
as to the completion of the title until after the surveys shall have been 
extended and officially returned to the district land office. 

The pre-emption privilege is restricted to heads of families, widows, or 
single persons over the age of twenty-one, who are citizens of the United 
States, or who have declared their intention to become citizen?, as required 
by the naturalization laws. This does not include Indians, except such as 
have ceased their tribal relations and been declared citizens by treaties or 
acts of Congress. 

The right of pre-emption, formerly extended by act of Congress of 
March 3, 1853, for one quarter section, or 160 acres, at the price of $2.50 
per acre, to the alternate United States or reserved sections along the line 
of railroads, is continued by the Revised Statutes, sections 2257, 2259, and 
2279. 

Section 2281 thereof protects the rights of settlers on sections along the 
line of railroads where settlements existed prior to withdrawal, and in such 
cases allows the land to be taken by the pre-emptors at $1.25 per acre, but 
requires that they shall file the proper notices of their claims and make 
proof and payment, as in other cases. 

Where the tract is "offered" land, the party must file with the district 
land office his declaratory statement as to the fact of his settlement within 
thirty days from the date of said settlement, form No. 19, and within one 
year from date of settlement must appear before the register and receiver 
and make proof of his actual residence on, and cultivation of, the tract, and 
secure the same by paying cash, or locating thereon military bounty-land 
warrants or agricultural-college scrip, according to law; or private-claim 



9 

scrip may now be used, under act of Congress of January 28, 1879, (copy 
attached, No. 10.) 

Where the tract has been surveyed and not offered at public sale, the 
claimant must file his declaratory statement within three months from date 
of settlement, form No. 18, and make proof and payment within thirty 
months after the expiration of the three months allowed for filing his 
declaratory notice, or, in other words, within thirty-three months from date 
of settlement ; — forms Nos. 20, 21, and 22. 

Where settlements are made on urisurveyed lands, settlers are required, 
within three months after the date of the receipt at the district land office 
of the approved plat of the township embracing their claims, to file their 
declaratory statement with the register of the proper land office, form No. 
18, and thereafter to make proof and payment for the tract within thirty 
months from the expiration of said three months; — forms Nos. 20, 21, 
and 22. 

When two or more settlers on unsurveyed land are found upon survey 
to be residing upon, or to have valuable improvements upon, the same 
smallest legal subdivision, they may make joint entry of such tract, and 
separate entries of the residue of their claims. This joint entry may be 
made in pursuance of contract between the parties, or without it. (Revised 
Statutes, sec. 2274.) 

Should the settler in either of the aforesaid cases die before establishing 
his claim within the period limited by law, the title may be perfected by 
the executor, administrator, or one of the heirs, by making the requisite 
proof of settlement and paying for the land ; the entry to be made in the 
name of "the heirs" of the deceased settler; and the patent will be issued 
accordingly. The legal representatives of the deceased pre-emptor are 
entitled to make the entry at any time within the period during which the 
pre-emptor would have been entitled to do so had he lived. 

Section 2261 of the Revised Statutes prohibits the second filing of a 
declaratory statement by any pre-emptor qualified at the date of his first 
filing, where said filing has been in all respects legal. Where the first filing, 
however, is illegal from any cause, not the willful act of the party, he has 
the right to make a second and legal filing. 

In the first section of the act of Congress of July 1, 1879, entitled "An 
Act for the relief of settlers on the public lands in districts subject to grass- 
hopper incursions" it is provided — 

That it shall be lawful for homestead and pre-emption settlers on the public lands ; and in 
«11 cases where pre-emptions are authorized by law, where crops have been or may be destroyed 
•or seriously injured by grasshoppers, to leave and be absent from said lands, under such rules 
and regulations, as to proof of the same, as the Commissioner of the General Land Office shall 
■prescribe ; but in no case shall such absence extend beyond one year continuously; and during 
such absence no adverse rights shall attach to said lands, such settlers being allowed to resume 
;and perfect their settlement as though no such absence had occurred. 



10 

And in its second section it is provided — 

That the time for making final proof and payment by pre-emptors whose crops shall have 
been destroyed or injured as aforesaid, may, in the discretion of the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land Office, be extended for one year after the expiration of the term of absence provided 
for in the first section of this act; and all the rights and privileges extended by this act to- 
homestead and pre-emption settlers shall apply to and include the settlers under an act enti- 
tled "An act to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies" approved March third,, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and the acts amendatory thereof. 

The proof required in the first section of said act may consist of the affi- 
davit of the claimant, giving the particulars of the alleged destruction or 
serious injury of crops by grasshoppers, and the affidavits of two or more 
witnesses corroborative thereof, and should be submitted at time of making 
final proof through the register and receiver of the proper district land 
office. The particulars given should be such as to admit of a decision 
whether the absence was justified by law or not, and should of course indi- 
cate at what time the party left the land and when he resumed his settle- 
ment. 

Written notice of intended absence, signed by the party, should be filed 
with the register and receiver when he leaves his claim, and be noted on 
the tract-books; this for the protection of the claimant, and as notice to 
those who might otherwise make settlement and attempt to obtain title. 

Claimants desiring the extension of time provided for in the second sec- 
tion of said act may apply therefor through the same officers, the application 
to be supported by the same character of proof. The affidavits required in 
cases under said act, as before indicated, may be made before any officer 
using a seal and authorized to administer oaths, or before the register or 
receiver of the district land office. 

Before final proof is made on pre-emption claims and entry allowed, it 
is necessary that public notice be given under the act of Congress of March 
3, 1879, as pointed out with regard to homestead claims under the next 
succeeding title. 

LAWS EXTENDING THE HOMESTEAD PRIVILEGE. 

The laws extending the homestead privilege, embraced in sections 2289 
to 2312 of the Revised Statutes, (copies attached,) give to every citizen, 
and to those who have declared their intention to become citizens, the right 
to a homestead on surveyed lands. This right was limited by section 2289 
of the Revised Statutes, as the maximum quantity, to 160 acres of the class 
of ordinary public lands held by law at $1.25 per acre, when disposed of to 
cash purchasers, or 80 acres of the class of lands embraced in the alternate sec- 
tions, along the lines of railroads or other works of internal improvement, 
reserved to the United States in acts of Congress making grants of land in aid 
of the construction of such works, and the price thereof increased to $2.50 per 
acre. By act of Congress of March 3, 1 879, (copy attached, No. 11,) it was 



11 

enacted that from and after its passage "the even sections within the limits- 
of any grant of public lands to any railroad company, or to any military 
road company, or to any State in aid of any railroad or military road, shall 
be open to settlers under the homestead laws to the extent of one hundred 
and sixty- acres to each settler/ 7 thus doing away in this class of entries 
with the distinction between ordinary mimimum and double minimum 
lands, or lands held at $1.25 per acre and lands held at S2.50 per acre, 
which had existed under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes of the United 
States, so far as the double minimum lands may be found in even sections 
within the limits of land grants for railroads or military roads. These 
provisions did not extend so as to embrace any double minimum lands in 
odd numbered sections, or in the limits of grants for any other description 
of public works. By act of July 1, 1879, (copy attached, No. 12,) the 
same provisions were extended to the odd sections in the States of Missouri 
and Arkansas, where the odd sections were reserved to the United States, 
the price of the lands therein enhanced, and the even sections granted for 
the purposes of improvement. Both acts are inoperative in any case where 
the even sections are granted, the odd being reserved, and not within the 
States of Missouri and Arkansas, as in Alabama and Mississippi. 

To obtain a homestead the party must, in connection with his applica- 
tion, form No. 23, make an affidavit, form No. 24, before the register or 
receiver, that he is over the age of twenty-one, or the head of a family; 
that he is a citizen of the United States, or has declared his intention to 
become such; and that the entry is made for his exclusive use and benefit, 
and for actual settlement and cultivation ; and must pay the legal fee and 
that part of the commissions which is payable when the entry is made, as 
given in tables on pages 21, 22. 

Where the applicant has made actual settlement on the land he desires 
to enter, but is prevented by reason of bodily infirmity, distance, or other 
good cause, from personal attendance at the district laud office, the affidavit 
may be made before the clerk of the court for the county withia which the 
land is situated, under section 2294 of the Revised Statutes. 

On compliance by the party with the foregoing requirements, the receiver 
will issue his receipt for the fee and that part of the commissions paid, form 
No. 25, a duplicate of which he will deliver to the party. The matter will 
then be entered on the records of the district office and reported to the 
General Land Office. 

An inceptive right is vested in the settler by such proceedings, and upon 
faithful observance of the law in regard to settlement and cultivation for 
the continuous term of five years, and at the expiration of that time, or 
within two years thereafter, upon proper proof to the satisfaction of the 
land officers, forms Nos. 30. 31, and 32, and payment to the receiver of 
that part of the commissions remaining to be paid, as given in tables out 



12 

pages 21, 22, the receiver issuing his receipt therefor, the register will issue 
his certificate, forms Nos. 33 and 34, and make proper returns to this office 
as the basis of a patent or complete title for the homestead. Reference is 
here made to the provisions of the act of Congress of July 1, 1879, as 
given above, in regard to cases in which crops may be destroyed or seri- 
ously injured by grasshoppers, the same being applicable to homestead claims 
in like manner as to pre-emptions. 

Note. — The law is specific in requiring final proof to be made within two } r ears after the 
expiration of the five years. 

Under the act of Congress of March 3, 1879, copy attached, No. 13, 
any settler desiring to make final proof must first file with the register of 
the proper land office a written notice of his intention to do so. Such notice 
must describe the land claimed, and the claimant must give the names and 
residences of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts as to settlement, 
residence, cultivation, etc., are to be established. (See Form No. 26.) 

The filing of such notice must be accompanied by a deposit of sufficient 
money to pay the cost of publishing the notice to be given by the register. 

Upon the filing of the notice by the applicant, the register shall publish 
a notice of such application once each week for a period of thirty days, in 
a newspaper which he shall designate, by an order written on said applica- 
tion, as published nearest the land described in the application, and he shall 
also post said notice in some conspicuous place in his office for the same 
period. A compliance with the law will require the notice to be published 
weekly five times, because four weekly publications would not cover a 
period of thirty days. 

The notice to be given by the register must state that application to make 
final proof has been filed ; the name of the applicant ; the kind of entry, 
whether homestead or pre-emption ; a description of the land, and the names 
and residences of the witnesses as stated in the application. (See Form 
No. 27.) 

To save expense, the register may embrace two or more cases in one pub- 
lication, when it can be done consistently with the legal requirements of 
publication, in a newspaper published nearest the land, as per attached 
form No. 28. 

When proof is filed that notice has been given in the manner and for 
the time required by said act of Congress, the applicant will be entitled to 
make final proof as provided by the laws in force at the date of the approval 
of said act. 

The proof that requisite notice has been given will be the certificate of 
the register that the notice of the application (a copy of which should be 
annexed to the certificate) was posted by him in a conspicuous place in his 
office for a period of thirty days; and the affidavit of the publisher or fore- 
man of the newspaper that the notice (a copy of which notice must be 



13 

annexed to the affidavit) was published in said newspaper once each week 
for five successive weeks. 

The proof of the publication and posting of the notice must be filed and 
preserved by the register, to be forwarded to this office with the final 
papers when issued. 

In making final proof, the homestead party may appear in person at the 
district land office, with his witnesses, and there make the affidavit and 
proof required in support of his claim ; or he may proceed under the act 
of March 3, 1877, (copy attached, No. 2.) This prescribes that the party 
desiring to avail himself thereof must appear with his witnesses before the 
judge of a court of record of the county and State, or district and Territory, 
in which the land is situated, and there make the final proof required by 
law, according to the forms prescribed, Nos. 30, 31, and 32 ; which proof, 
duly authenticated by the court seal, is required to be transmitted by the 
judge, or the clerk of the court, to the register and receiver, together with 
the fee and charges allowed by law. See 3d, 10th, and 12th sub-divisions 
of section 2238 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, (copy attached.) 

The judge being absent in any case, the proof may be made before the 
clerk of the proper court. The fact of the absence of the judge must be 
certified in the papers by the clerk acting in his place. 

If the land in any case is situated in an unorganized county, the statute 
provides that the party may proceed to make the proof in the manner indi- 
cated in any adjacent county in the State or Territory. The fact that the 
county in which the- land lies is unorganized, and that the county in which 
the proof is made is adjacent thereto, must be certified by the officer. 

In any case where the final proof shall be transmitted to the register and 
receiver, as contemplated in this act, and the full amount of money due 
shall be paid, they will carefully examine the proof, and, if no objection 
appears, proceed to issue the receipt and certificate in- the case, and make 
proper returns to this office as the basis of a patent or complete title for 
the homestead, pursuant to existing laws. If any objection appears, they 
will promptly notify the party and advise him of his rights in the matter. 

Where a homestead settler dies before the consummation of his claim, 
the widow, or in case of her death the heirs, may continue settlement or 
cultivation, and obtain title upon requisite proof at the proper time. If 
the widow proves up, the title passes to her ; if she dies before proving up 
and the heirs make the proof, the title will vest in them. 

Where both parents die, leaving infant children, the homestead may be 
sold for cash for the benefit of such children, and the purchaser will receive 
title from the United States ; or the patent will issue to the infants on proof 
of settlement or cultivation for the prescribed period. 

The sale of a homestead claim by the settler to another party before com- 
pletion of title is not recognized by this office, and vests no title or equities 



14 

In the purchaser. In making final proof, the settler is by law required to 
swear that no part of the land has been alienated, except as provided in 
section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, for church, cemetery or school pur- 
poses, or the right of way of railroads. 

A party may relinquish his claim, but on his doing so the land reverts 
to the Government. The party so desiring should surrender the duplicate 
•receipt issued for the entry, with his written relinquishment of the same 
indorsed thereon, to the register and receiver of the proper district land 
office. If the duplicate receipt has been lost, he should submit to those 
officers a written relinquishment of the entry, in which he should state the 
fact of the loss of the duplicate receipt, and which should be duly signed 
and acknowledged. The register and receiver will report the relinquish- 
ment, as any other evidence of abandonment, with their opinion thereon, 
for the action of this office. 

Where application is made to contest the validity of a homestead entry 
on the ground of abandonment, the party must file his affidavit with the 
district land officers, setting forth the allegations on which his application 
is founded, describing the tract, and giving the name of the settler. Upon 
this the officers will set apart a day for hearing, giving all the parties in 
interest due notice of the time and place of trial. 

In cases of inability to make personal service of the notice, and when it 
becomes necessary to serve it by publication, the act of Congress of June 3, 
1878, directs that the same shall " be printed in some newspaper printed in 
the county where the land in contest lies; and if no newspaper be printed 
in such county, then in the newspaper printed in the county nearest to such 
land." After the trial, the land officers will transmit the testimony, with 
their joint report, for the action of this office, according to Rules of Practice 
approved October 9, 1878, given in separate circular. 

The expenses incident to such a contest must be defrayed by the con- 
testant, and no entry of the land can be made until the district officers have 
received notice from this office of the cancellation of the entry covering 
the same; nor does an informant obtain any privileges thereby. Such per- 
son must, if he desires the land, by proper diligence ascertain when notice of 
cancellation is received by the register and receiver, and then make formal 
written application for the tract ; the land, after reception by said officers 
of notice of cancellation, being always open to the first legal applicant, 
unless withdrawn from entry by competent authority; but the preference 
right of a bona fide actual settler will be recognized as against any other 
party seeking title to the tract covered by his settlement under the pre- 
emption, homestead, or timber-culture laws, according to the principles laid 
down in the decisions rendered by the United States Supreme Court in the 
case of Atherton vs. Fowler, 96 Otto, 513, and the ease of Hosmer vs. Wal- 
lace, 97 Otto, 575. 



15 

As the law allows but one homestead privilege, a settler relinquishing or 
abandoning his claim cannot thereafter make a second entry ; but where 
an entry is canceled as invalid for some reason other than abandonment, 
and not the willful act of the party, he is not thereby debarred from enter- 
ing again, if in other respects entitled, and may be allowed credit, for fees 
and commissions already paid, on a new homestead entry. 

When an individual has made settlement on a tract and filed his pre- 
emption declaration therefor, he may change his filing into a homestead, if 
he continues in good faith to comply with the pre-emption laws until the 
change is effected; and by an act of Congress of May 27, 1878, (copy 
attached, Xo. 3,) the time during which the party has resided upon and 
claimed the land as a pre-emptor will be credited upon the period of resi- 
dence and cultivation required under the homestead laws. In so doing he 
is required in his first homestead affidavit to set forth the fact of a pre- 
vious pre-emption filing, the time of actual residence thereunder, and the 
intention to claim the benefit of such time, as provided for in the act. In 
making final proof on his homestead entry he is required, in addition to 
the usual affidavit and proof, to make the prescribed " pre-emption home- 
stead affidavit," form Xo. 38. 

If the homestead settler does not wish to remain five years on his tract, 
the law permits him to pay for it with cash or warrants, or agricultural- 
college scrip, upon making proof of settlement and cultivation for a period 
of not less than six months from the date of entry to the time of payment; 
or payment may now be made with private-claim scrip under the act of 
January -28, 1879, (copy attached, Xo. 10.) 

This proof of actual settlement and cultivation must be the affidavit of 
the party, made before the district officers, in addition to the testimony 
usual in making final homestead proof, forms Xos. 31, 32, and 35. 

There is another, class of homesteads, designated as "adjoining-farm 
homesteads." In these cases the law allows an applicant owning and resid- 
ing on an original farm to enter other land lying contiguous thereto, which 
shall not, with such farm, exceed in the aggregate 160 acres. Thus, for 
example, a party owning or occupying 80 acres may enter 80 additional, 
without regard to price, whether held at $1.25 or $2.50 per acre; or, if 
owning 40 acres, he may enter 120 acres additional of land held at $1.25 
per acre, or of land held at $2.50 per acre, where 160 acres is now the 
maximum quantity of double minimum land subject to homestead entry, 
but cannot exceed the maximum of 80 acres where the land proposed to be 
entered is held at $2.50 per acre, and where 80 acres is still the legal maxi- 
mum in reference to that class of lands, under section 2289 of the Revised 
Statutes as modified by the acts of Congress of March 3, 1879, and July 1, 
1879, before mentioned. 

In applying for an entry of this class, the party must make affidavit, 



16 

form No. 36, describing the tract which he owns and upon which he resides 
as his original farm. In making final proof it is not required that he 
should prove actual residence on the separate tract entered ; but if he does 
not, it must appear from the proof adduced (forms Nos. 31, 32, and 37, 
the two former to be modified to suit the circumstances of the case,) that 
he has continued for the period required by law to reside upon and culti- 
vate the original farm tract, making use of the entered tract as a part of 
the homestead. 

The act of March 3, 1.879, copy attached, No. 11, in addition to the provis- 
ions already referred to, provides, First, that "any person who has under 
existing laws taken a homestead or any even section within the limits of 
any railroad or military road land grant, and who by existing laws shall 
have been restricted to 80 acres, may enter under the homestead laws an 
additional 80 acres adjoining the land embraced in his original entry, if 
such additional land be subject to entry," without payment of fees and 
commissions, and that "the residence and cultivation of such person upon 
and of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence 
and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land embraced 
in his additional entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' residence 
required by law," with the proviso, however, that in no case shall patent 
issue " until the person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead 
laws, occupied, resided upon, and cultivated the land" embraced in his 
additional entry "at least one year." 

Upon any party proposing to enter an additional tract under these pro- 
visions, the register and receiver will require him to make homestead appli- 
cation and affidavit according to annexed forms, Nos. 39 and 40. They 
will then, if they find his original entry to be intact on their records, whether 
patented or not, and if no objection appears in any respect, allow the entry 
applied for, note the same on their records, giving it the proper number in 
the regular homestead series, and report it with their monthly homestead 
returns, indicating its character as an additional entry under said act on the 
margin of their monthly abstracts, with a reference to the original entry by 
its number and the description of the land. The money columns in the 
abstracts will of course be left blank, since there will be no fees and com- 
missions paid. 

In this class of entries the party, if still resident on the original entry 
tract, will not be required to remove therefrom to the additional entry tract 
in order to make a new residence on the latter, as the two forming one body 
of land, residence on either will be regarded as satisfying the legal require- 
ment; but in making final proof on the additional entry the party must 
show such residence, with occupancy and cultivation of the tract taken as 
additional under said act, for five years from the date of entry thereof, less 
the time to be deducted on account of residence and cultivation on the 
original entry, which shall not exceed four years in any case. 



17 

Second. — The act farther provides that should the person so elect he 
may, instead of making an additional entry, " surrender his existing entry 
to the United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter 
lands under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had 
not been made," with the same provisions, as regards fees and commissions 
not being required, and requiring settlement and cultivation, occupation, 
and residence, as have been already stated with regard to additional entries. 
In case of any party electing to surrender his entry under this act, the reg- 
ister and receiver will receive his relinquishment, which shall specify for 
what purpose made, and be accompanied by the duplicate receipt issued for 
the relinquished entry, or by a statement under oath showing a good reason 
for its absence, report the case in a special letter to this office, and await 
instructions before proceeding further in the matter. Relinquishments 
may be made in the same manner hereinbefore provided for. 

Any party claiming the right to make an additional entry or to surrender 
an old and make a new one, under the provisions before referred to, will be 
required first to make affidavit that he did not serve as a soldier or sailor 
for ninety days during the late civil war and receive an honorable discharge 
from the Army or Navy, for if so, he would not be entitled to the right 
claimed, as the class of persons who so served and were discharged were 
not restricted to eighty acres under the previously existing laws, as indicated 
below. This affidavit may be made before any officer using a seal and 
authorized to administer oaths, or before the register or receiver of the 
district office. 

Provisions for the benefit of soldiers and sailors of the late wa,r, their 
widows and minor orphan children. — Sections 2304, 2305, 2306, 2307, 
2308, and 2309 of the Revised Statutes, for the benefit of soldiers and 
sailors, their widows and minor orphan children, provide — 

1st. In section 2304, that every soldier and officer in the Army, and 
every seaman, marine, and officer of the Navy, who served for not less than 
ninety days in the Army or Navy of the United States, " during the re- 
cent rebellion," and who was honorably discharged, and has remained loyal 
to the Government, may enter, under the provisions of the homestead law, 
160 acres of the public land, to be taken, if desired, from the class of 
double minimum lands. 

2d. In section 2305, that the time of his service, or the whole term of 
his enlistment if the party was discharged on account of wounds or dis- 
ability incurred in the line of duty, shall be deducted from the period of 
five years, during which, as per section 2291 , the claimant must, to perfect 
title, reside upon and cultivate the entered tract, but with the proviso that 
the party shall, in every case, reside upon, improve, and cultivate his 
homestead for a period of at least one year after he shall have commenced 
his improvements. 



18 

3d. That any person entitled to the benefits of section 2304 who had, 
prior to the 22d of June, 1874, made a homestead entry of less than 160 
acres, may enter an additional quantity of land sufficient to make, with 
the previous entry, 160 acres. 

4th. That the widow, if unmarried, or in case of her death or marriage, 
then the minor orphan children, of a person who would be entitled to the 
benefits of section 2304, may enter land under its provisions, with the 
additional privilege accorded, that if the person died during his term of 
enlistment, the widow or minor children shall have the benefit of the 
whole term of enlistment. 

5th. That any person entitled to the benefit of section 2304 may file his 
claim for a tract of land through an agent, and shall have six months 
thereafter within which to make his entry and commence his settlement 
and improvement upon the land. 

The following is the course of proceedings for parties to avail themselves 
of the benefits of these sections of the Revised Statutes in making home- 
stead entries : 

1st. On the party producing the proper proof of his right to do so, im- 
mediate entry of the tract desired may be made ; but if the party so elect, 
he may file a declaration, form No. 41, to the effect that he claims a specified 
tract of land as his homestead, and that he takes it for actual settlement 
and cultivation. The register and receiver will number the declarations so 
filed in a separate series, according to the order of filing, enter them on 
their records, and with their monthly returns forward an abstract, to em- 
brace all declarations of this class filed with them during the month. 
Thereafter, at any time within six months from the date of filing, the 
party may come forward, make his entry of the land, forms of application 
and affidavits, Nos. 42 and 43, and commence his settlement and improve- 
ment. Should the party present his declaration through an agent as au- 
thorized by section 2309, said agent must produce a duly executed power 
of attorney from the principal desiring to make the entry, who will be 
bound by the selection his agent may make the same as though made by 
himself. Where the party has failed to make entry within six months from 
the date of filing, he is not thereby debarred from making entry of the 
tract filed for, unless some adverse right has intervened ; and if so, he may 
enter some other tract that is still vacant. 

2d. The claims of widows and minor orphan children may be initiated 
by declaration, as above. Minor orphan children can act only by their 
duly appointed guardians, who must file certified copies of the powers of 
guardianship, which must be transmitted to this office by the registers and 
receivers with their abstracts of declarations. The law does not require, 
as a condition to enjoying its benefits, that the party should first file a de- 
claratory statement, and, as before stated, immediate entry may be made. 



19 

3d. Where a party entitled desires to make an additional entry of a 
quantity which, with his original entry, shall not exceed one hundred and 
sixtv acres, it is required that a full recital of military service be presented 
to this office, with due proof of the identity of the party making the 
claim, and with proper reference to his original homestead entry, giving the 
name of the district office, date and number of entry, and description of 
the land. In addition, a detailed statement, under oath, must be filed by 
the party in interest, setting forth the facts respecting his right to make 
the entry, and containing his declaration that he has not in any manner ex- 
ercised his right, either by previous entry or application, or by sale, transfer, 
or power of attorney, but that the same remains in him unimpaired. He 
must also declare, under oath, that he has made full "compliance with the 
homestead law in the matter of residence upon, cultivation and improve- 
ment of, his original homestead entry ; and should further recite whether 
or not he has proved up his claim and received a patent of the land. 

When these papers are filed and examined, they will, if found satisfac- 
tory, be returned with a certificate attached recognizing the right of the 
party to make additional entry under the law ; and when presented with a 
proper application at any district land office, either by the party entitled or 
his agent or attorney, they will be accepted by the register and receiver, , 
and forwarded with the entry papers to this office in the usual manner. 

The fee for examination and certificate, under the seal of the office, will 
be one dollar, which must in all cases accompany the papers presented for 
approval. 

Where the party's first entry has been consummated, the register and 
receiver will require him to make application in the form prescribed, No. 44^ 
and to pay the same fee and commissions as in cases of original entry; the 
receiver will issue his receipt for the money paid, and these papers will 
receive the current date and the proper numbers in their homestead series. 
Then, to complete the transaction — it being an object, for the convenience 
of business, that the additional entry papers, and the final papers therefor, 
in such cases, shall be kept separate and distinct — the party will make pay- 
ment of the usual final commissions on the entered tract, for which the 
receiver will issue his receipt; the register will thereupon issue his final 
certificate for the additional tract, form No. 45, the receipt and certificate 
to bear their proper numbers in the final homestead series, likewise a refer- 
ence to the original entry and to the final certificate thereon by their num- 
ber, and also by their district where the party's first entry shall have been 
made in a different district. 

In case the party has not made proof on his original homestead entry 
when he applies for additional land, he will be allowed to make the addi- 
tional entry on proper application, as above stated, and paying the usual fee 
and commissions, for which the receiver will issue his receipt ; the papers 



20 

to receive their proper numbers in the homestead series, with a reference 
thereon to the original entry. Thereafter, when the party shall make final 
proof on the original entry, he will be required to pay the final commissions 
on both entries, when a final receipt will be issued for the money, and 
thereupon a final certificate issued to call both for the tract in the original 
entry and the additional tract. On these papers the register and receiver 
will make a reference to the orignal and the additional entry, and on them 
one patent will issue for both ; yet where it happens that the original entry 
and the additional entry are made in different land districts, this rule must 
be departed from so far as regards the issuing of one final certificate and 
receipt for both. 

The following prdof will be required of parties applying for the benefits 
of sections 2304, 2305, and 2307, in addition to the prescribed affidavit 
of the applicant: 

1st. Certified copy of certificate of discharge, showing when the party 
enlisted and when he was discharged; or the affidavit of two respectable, 
disinterested witnesses corroborative of the allegations contained in the pre- 
scribed affidavit, form No. 43, on these points, or, if neither can be pro- 
cured, the party's affidavit to that effect. 

2d. In case of widows, the prescribed evidence of military service of the 
husband, as above, with affidavit of widowhood, giving date of the hus- 
band's death. 

3d. In case of minor orphan children, in addition to the prescribed evi- 
dence of military service of the father, proof of death or marriage of the 
mother. Evidence of death may be the testimony of two witnesses, or 
certificate of a physician duly attested. Evidence of marriage may be 
certified copy of marriage certificate, or of the record of same, or testimony 
of two witnesses to the marriage ceremony. 

The register and receiver will be allowed to charge one dollar each for 
receiving and filing the initiatory declaration of the parties in cases where 
such declarations are filed. This fee the receiver will account for in the 
usual manner, indicating the same in his account as fees for " homestead 
declarations," which will be charged against the maximum of $3,000 now 
allowed by law. In the States and Territories for which 50 per centum 
additional is allowed by the twelfth subdivision of section 2238 of the 
Revised Statutes, the additional allowance will apply to the fee herein 
named, viz: California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, 
New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana. 

Provisions for the benefit of Indians. — The 15th and 16th sections of the 
act of March 3, 1875, (copy attached, No. 9,) extends the benefits of the 
homestead act of May 20, 1862, and the acts amendatory thereof, (now em- 
bodied in sections 2290, 2291, 2292, and 2295 to 2302, inclusive, of the 
Revised Statutes,) to any Indian, born in the United States, who is the 



21 

head of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and 
who has abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, with 
the exception that the provisions of the 8th section of said act of 1862 
(section 2301 of the Revised Statutes) shall not be held to apply to entries 
made thereunder, and with the proviso that the title to lands acquired by 
any Indian by virtue thereof shall not be subject to alienation or incum- 
brance, either by voluntary conveyance, or the judgment, decree, or order 
of any court, and shall be and remain inalienable for a period of five years 
from the date of the patent issued therefor. 

An Indian desiring to enter public land under this act must make appli- 
cation to the register and receiver of the proper district land office ; also 
an affidavit setting forth the fact of his Indian character ; that he was born 
in the United States ; that he is the head of a family, or has arrived at the 
age of twenty-one years; that he has abandoned his tribal relations and 
adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life, form No. 46, and this 
must be. corroborated by the affidavits of two or more disinterested wit- 
nesses, form No. 47. 

If no objection appears, the register and receiver will then permit him 
to enter the tract desired according to existing regulations, so far as appli- 
cable, under the homestead law, the register writing across the face of the 
application, form No. 23, the words " Indian homestead — act of March 3, 
1875;" they will note the entry on their records and make returns thereof 
to this office, with which they will send the affidavits submitted. It will 
be observed that the provisions of the eighth section of this act of May 20, 
1862, (section 2301 of the Revised Statutes,) which admits of the com- 
muting of homestead to cash entries, do not apply to this class of home- 
steads. 

All lands obtained under the homestead laws are exempt from liability 
for debts contracted prior to the issuing of patent therefor. 

For homestead entries on lands in Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Mis- 
souri, Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska, Dakota, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida, commissions and fees are 
to be paid according to the following table : 





Price 


Commissions. 


Fee. 




Acres. 








Total of fee and 


per 
acre. 


Payable when 


Payable when 


Payable when 


commissions. 






entry is made. 


certificate issues. 


entry is made. 




160 


$2 50 


$8 00 


$8 00 


■ 

$10 00 


$26 00 


80 


2 50 


4 00 


4 00 


5 00 


13 00 


40 


2 50 


2 00 


2 00 


5 00 


9 00 


160 


1 25 


4 00 


4 00 


10 00 


18 00 


80 


1 25 


2 00 


2 00 


5 00 


9 00 


40 


1 25 


1 00 


1 00 


5 00 


7 00 



22 

In addition to the States and Territories above named, the same rates 
will apply to Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, if any vacant tracts can be 
found liable to entry in these three States, where but very few isolated 
tracts of public land remain undisposed of. 

In the Pacific and other political divisions, viz: on lands in Cali- 
fornia, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, New Mexico, and Washing- 
ton, and in Arizona, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, the 
commissions and fees are to be paid according to the following table : 



Acres. 


Price 
per 
acre. 


Commissions. 


Fee. 


Total of fee and 
commissions. 


Payable when 
entry is made. 


Payable when 
certificate issues. 


Payable wben 
entry is made. 


160 
80 
40 

160 

80 

40 


$2 50 
2 50 
2 50 
1 25 
1 25 
1 25 


$12 00 
6 00 
3 00 
6 00 
3 00 
1 50 


$12 00 
6 00 
3 00 
6 00 
3 00 
1 50 


$10 00 
5 00 
5 00 
10 00 
5 00 
5 00 


$34 00 
17 00 
11 00 
22 00 
11 00 
8 00 



OHIO, INDIANA, AND ILLINOIS. 



In reference to disposals of any remnant of public lands in these States, 
it may be proper here to introduce the following regulations for the admis- 
sion of entries by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, under act 
of March 3, 1877, in States where there are no district land offices: 

The act of Congress of March 3, 1877, making appropriations for the 
legislative, executive, and judicial expenses of the Government for the year 
ending June 30, 1878, provides: "That public lands situated in States in 
which there are no land offices may be entered at the General Land Office, 
subject to the provisions of law touching the entry of public lands; and 
that the necessary proofs and affidavits required in such cases may be made 
before some officer competent to administer oaths, whose official character 
shall be duly certified by the clerk of a court of record ; and moneys re- 
ceived by the Commissioner of the General Land Office for lands entered 
by cash entry shall be covered into the Treasury." 

Under these provisions the Commissioner of the General Land Office is 
prepared to perform the duties which, by law, were devolved upon the 
registers and receivers of the district land offices at Chillicothe, Ohio, 
Springfield, Illinois, and Indianapolis, Indiana, prior to the abolition of 
those offices by act of Congress of July 31, 1876. 

In so doing, he will receive applications accompanied by the purchase 
money, or fees and com missions, as the case may be, from parties desiring 
to enter any isolated tracts which may remain undisposed of in said States, 
either from the parties in person or through the mails, and in like manner 



23 

any proof or payment proper to perfect entries already made, take the 
proper action thereon, and duly advise the parties, in regular course of 

business. 

The following method will be observed in carrying into effect the pro- 
visions of the act : 

1st. A clerk has been designated by the Commissioner to receive and 
act upon the applications which may be offered for such entries, and to have 
charge of the correspondence connected therewith ; all moneys received to 
go into the charge of the receiving clerk, designated under the act of July 
2, 1864, and any moneys found to belong to the United States on the cases 
being finally passed upon to be turned over to the Treasury, according to 
law. 

2d. Applications will be immediately entered in a preliminary abstract 
for each State in the order in which they are received ; will be carefully 
examined in connection with the plats, files, and records, and admitted or 
rejected, according to the law and instructions governing the case. From 
such preliminary abstracts the admitted applications will be carried to a 
regular monthly abstract, and the proper certificates and receipts will be 
issued by the Commissioner, acting as ex officio register and receiver. The 
entries thus admitted will be properly posted in the tract-books, and the 
papers therefor placed on file, for such further action as may be necessary. 
These entries will be numbered consecutively in continuation of the series 
entered upon at the respective district offices. The applicants will be 
promptly advised of the result of the examination, and, where the desired 
entries are admitted, will be furnished with the appropriate paper, to be 
held as evidence of title until delivery of the patents. 

3d. In case of conflicting applications, that which is first received shall 
be first acted upon, as above directed, and will be considered as giving the 
applicant the legal right to the tract applied for, if unexceptionable in other 
respects. 

LAWS TO PROMOTE TIMBER CULTURE. 

The timber-culture act of March 3, 1873, having been amended by the 
act of March 13, 1874, the latter has been further amended by the act of 
June 14, 1878, (copy attached, No. 4.) 

I. — Certain provisions of the act of March 13, 1874, are repealed by 
the act of June 14, 1878. 

1. The act of March 13, 1874, at the close of its first section, contains 
the following : "Provided, That not more than one quarter of any section 
shall be thus granted, and that no person shall make more than one entry 
under the provisions of this act, unless fractional subdivisions of less than 
forty acres are entered, which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed one quar- 
ter section." In the act of June 14, 1878, the concluding words, "unless 



24 

fractional subdivisions of less than forty acres are entered, which, in the 
aggregate, shall not exceed one quarter section/ 7 are omitted. Hence, the 
rule forbidding more than one entry is made universal, and will govern in 
all future cases. 

2. The provision of the act of March 13, 1874, requiring that the trees 
shall be not "more than twelve feet apart each way/ 7 is omitted from the 
act of June 14, 1878. The latter requires, however, that the final proof 
shall show " that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on 
each acre, and that at the time of making such proof there shall be grow- 
ing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty trees to each 
acre. 77 

3. The closing sentence of the second section of the act of March 13, 
1874, provides that "in case. of the death of a person who has complied 
with the provisions of this act for the period of three years, his heirs or 
legal representatives shall have the option to comply with the provisions of 
this act, and receive, at the expiration of eight years, a patent for one hun- 
dred and sixty acres, or receive, without delay, a patent for forty acres, 
relinquishing all claim to the remainder. 77 This provision is not contained 
in the act of June 14, 1878. 

4. The following section of the act of March 13, 1874, relating to home- 
stead entries on which timber is cultivated, is omitted from the act of June 
14, 1878: 

Sec. 4. That each and every person who, under the provisions, of the act entitled "An Act 
to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," approved May 20, 1862, or any 
amendment thereto, having a homestead on said public domain, who, at any time after the 
end of the third year of his or her residence thereon, shall, in addition to the settlement and 
improvements now required by law, have had under cultivation, for two years, one acre of 
timber, the trees thereon not being more than twelve feet apart each way, and in a good 
thrifty condition, for each and every sixteen acres of said homestead, shall, upon due proof of 
such fact by two credible witnesses, receive his or her patent for said homestead. 

The rights of claimants under entries actually made according to the act 
of March 13, 1874, before the 14th June, 1878, when the amendatory act 
took effect, are not affected by the repeal of the provisions referred to. The 
parties interested, if they so elect, may consummate their entries according 
to the provisions of the act under which they were initiated. And home- 
stead entries made before the 14th June, 1878, will be patented according 
to the fourth section above quoted, where the facts are such as to bring the 
cases within its provisions and the interested parties so desire. But entries 
made since that time must be adjusted according to the principles of the law 
as modified by the amendatory net. 

II. — The principal points to be observed in proceedings thereunder may 
be stated as follows: 

1. The privilege of entry under the act of June 14, 1878, is confined to 
persons who are heads of families, or over twenty-one years of age, and who 



25 

are citizens of the United States, or have declared their intention to become 
such, according to the naturalization laws. 

2. The affidavit required for initiating an entry under the act of June 
14, 1878, may be made before the register or receiver of the district office 
for the land district embracing the desired tract, before the clerk of some 
court of record, or before any officer authorized to administer oaths in that 
district. 

3. Not more than 160 acres in any one section can be entered under this 
act, and no person can make more than one entry thereunder. 

4. The ratio of area required to be broken, planted, etc., in all entries 
under the act of June 14, 1878, is one-sixteenth of the land embraced in the 
entry, except where the entered tract is less than 40 acres, in which case it 
is one-sixteenth of that quantity. The party making an entry of a quarter 
section, or 160 acres, is required to break or plow five acres covered thereby 
during the first year, and five acres in addition during the second year. The 
five acres broken or plowed during the first year he is required to cultivate 
by raising a crop, or otherwise, during the second year, and to plant in 
timber, seeds, or cuttings, during the third year. The five acres broken or 
plowed during the second year he is required to cultivate by raising a crop, 
or otherwise, during the third year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cut- 
tings, during the fourth year. The tracts embraced in entries of a less 
quantity than one quarter section are required to be broken or plowed, cul- 
tivated, and planted in trees, tree-seeds, or cuttings, during the same periods, 
and to the same extent, in proportion to their total areas, as are provided 
for in entries of a quarter section. Provision is made in the act for an 
extension of time in case the trees, seeds, or cuttings planted should be 
destroyed by grasshoppers or by extreme and unusual drought. 

5. If, at the expiration of eight years from the date of entry, or at any 
time within five years thereafter, the person making the entry, or, if he be 
dead, his heirs or legal representatives, shall prove, by two credible wit- 
nesses, the planting, cultivating, and protecting of the timber for not less 
than eight years, according to the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 
he, or they, will be entitled to a patent for the land embraced in the entry. 

6. If, at any time after one year from the date of entry, and prior to the 
issue of a patent therefor, the claimant shall fail to comply with any of the 
requirements of that act, then, and in that event, such entry will become 
liable to a contest in the manner provided in homestead cases, and upon 
due proof of such failure the entry will be canceled, and the land become 
again subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other person 
under the act of June 14, 1878. 

7. No land acquired under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 
will in any event become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts con- 
tracted prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 



26 

8. The fees for entries under the act of June 14, 1878, are $10 if the 
tract applied for is more than 80 acres; and $5 if it is 80 acres or less; 
and the commissions of registers and receivers on all entries (irrespective of 
area) are $4 ($2 to each) at the date of entry, and a like sum at the date 
of final proof. 

9. No distinction is made, as to area or the amount of fee and commis- 
sions, between minimum and double-minimum lands. A party may enter 
160 acres of either on payment of the prescribed fee and commissions. 

10. The fifth section of the act approved March 3, 1857, entitled "An 
Act in addition to an act to punish crimes against the United States, and 
for other purposes/ 7 is extended to all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits 
required or authorized by the act of June 14, 1878. 

1 1 . Parties who have already made entries under the timber-culture acts 
of March 3, 1873, and March 13, 1874, of which the act of June 14, 1878, 
is amendatory, may complete the same by compliance with the requirements 
of the latter act; that is, they may do so by showing, at the time of mak- 
ing their final proof, that they have had under cultivation, as required by 
the act of June 14, 1878, an amount of timber sufficient to make the num- 
ber of acres required thereby, being one-fourth the number required by the 
former acts. It will be sufficient for this if the parties show that of the 
entire area embraced in their respective entries they have cultivated in 
timber for the period required by the act of 1878 an area not less than 
one-sixteenth part; and that they have then growing upon such cultivated 
area the prescribed number of "living and thrifty trees," viz., 6,750, where 
the entry is for 160 acres; 3,375, where it is for 80 acres; and 1,688, 
where it is for 40 acres or less. 

III. — The following regulations are prescribed pursuant to the fifth 
section of the act of June 14, 1878, viz : 

1. The register and receiver will not restrict entries under this act to one 
quarter section only in each section, as was formerly done under the acts to 
which this is amendatory, but may allow entries to be made of subdivisions 
of different quarters of the same section; provided that each entry shall 
form a compact body, not exceeding 160 acres, and that not more than 
that quantity shall be entered in any one section. Before allowing any 
entry applied for, they will, by a careful examination of the plat and tract- 
books with reference to any previous entry or entries within the limits of 
the same section, satisfy themselves that the desired entry is admissible 
under this rule. 

2. When they shall have satisfied themselves that the land applied for 
is properly subject to such entry, they will require the party to make the 
prescribed affidavit and to pay the fee and that part of the commissions 
payable at the dale of entry, and the receiver will issue his receipt therefor, 
in duplicate, giving the party a duplicate receipt. They will number the 



27 

entry in its order, in a separate series of numbers, unless they have already 
a series under the acts to which this act is amendatory, in which case they 
will number the entry as one of that series ; they will note the entry on 
their records and report it in their monthly returns, sending up all the 
papers therein, with an abstract of the entries allowed during the month 
under this act. If the affidavit is made before a justice of the peace, which 
the act admits of, his official character and the genuineness of his signature 
must be certified under seal. 

3. When a contest is instituted, as contemplated in the third section of 
the act of June 14, 1878, the contestant will be allowed to make applica- 
tion to enter the land. The register will thereupon indorse on the appli- 
cation the date of its presentation, and will make the application, and the 
contestant's affidavit setting forth the grounds of contest, the basis for 
further proceedings, these papers to accompany the report submitting the 
case to the General Land Office. Should the contest result in the cancel- 
lation of the contested entry, the contestant may then perfect his own, but 
no preference right will be allowed unless application is made by him at 
date of instituting contest. 

4. The fees and commissions in this class of entries the receiver will 
account for in the usual manner, indicating the same as fees and commis- 
sions on timber-culture entries, which will be charged against the maxi- 
mum of $3,000 now allowed by law. 

5. In all cases under this act it will be required that trees shall be 
cultivated which shall be of the class included in the term "timber," the 
cultivation of shrubbery and fruit trees not being sufficient. 

6. The applications, affidavits, and receipts in entries allowed under the 
act of June 14, 1878, will be made out according to the forms hereto 
attached, Nos. 48, 49, and 50. 

The foregoing portion of this circular has reference to public lands which 
are agricultural in character. There are special laws for the disposal of 
desert lands, saline lands, town-sites on the public domain, and lands which 
are unfit for cultivation and valuable chiefly for timber or stone. 

DESERT LANDS. 

By desert lands is meant a class of lands which will not, without irriga- 
tion, produce any agricultural crop. Title to such lands in any of the fol- 
lowing States and Territories may be acquired under the act of Congress 
of March 3, 1877, (copy attached, No. 5,) viz: the States of California, 
Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, Montana, 
Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota. Any party desiring 
to avail himself thereof must file with the register and receiver of the 
proper district land office a declaration in form prescribed, No. 51, which 
must be under oath, and may be executed before either the register or 



28 

receiver, or the clerk of any court of record having a seal. It must set 
forth that the applicant is a citizen of the United States, or that he has 
declared his intention to become such, in which case a duly certified copy 
of his declaration of intention to become a citizen must be presented and 
filed. It must also be set up that the applicant has "made no other declara- 
tion for desert lands under the provisions of this act, and that he intends 
to reclaim the tract of land applied for, not exceeding one section, by con- 
ducting water thereon within three years from the date of his declaration. 
The declaration must also contain a description of the land applied for, by 
legal subdivisions if surveyed, or, if unsurveyed, as nearly as jwssible 
without a survey by giving, with as much clearness and precision as possi- 
ble, the locality of the tract with reference to known and conspicuous 
land-marks or the established lines of survey, so as to admit of its being 
thereafter readily identified when the lines of survey come to be extended. 
As preliminary to the filing of such declaration, it must be satisfactorily 
shown that the land therein described is desert land as defined in the -second 
section of the act. To this end, the testimony of at least two disinterested 
and credible witnesses is required, whose testimony will be reduced to 
writing in the usual manner; or the evidence may be furnished in the 
form of affidavits executed before the clerk of any court of record having 
a seal, the credibility of the witnesses to be certified by said clerk. The 
witnesses must clearly state their acquaintance with the premises, and the 
facts as to the condition and situation of the land upon- which they base 
their judgment. A form of affidavit, to be sworn to and subscribed by 
each witness, is attached, No. 52. After this proof has been made to the 
satisfaction of the district officers, the receiver will receive from the appli- 
cant the sum of twenty-five cents per acre for the land applied for ; the 
register will receive and file his declaration, and they will jointly issue, in 
duplicate, a certificate in the form attached, No. 53. One of these dupli- 
cates will be delivered to the applicant ; the other will be retained by the 
register and receiver with the declaration and proof. They will bear a 
number according to the order in which the certificate was issued. The 
register will keep a record of the certificates issued, showing the number, 
date, amount paid, name of applicant, and description of the land applied 
for in each case, and, in addition, he will note the same upon his plats and 
records as in cases of ordinary entry. At the end of each month he will, 
with his regular returns, forward to this office an abstract of the declara- 
tions filed and certificates issued under this act during the month, accom- 
panying same with the declarations and proofs filed and the retained copy 
of certificate in each case. The receiver will also account for the money 
received under this act in the usual form. At any time within three years 
after the date of filing the declaration and the issue of certificate the proper 
party may make satisfactory proof of having conducted water upon the 



29 

land applied for. This proof must consist of the testimony of at least two 
disinterested and credible witnesses, who must appear in person before the 
register and receiver. They must declare that they have personal knowl- 
edge of the condition of the land applied for, and of the facts to which 
thev testify; and their testimony must be reduced to writing in the usual 
manner. See forms Nos. 54 and 55. The party must also present and 
surrender the duplicate certificate issued when the declaration was filed. 
"When this is done, and the final proof made to the satisfaction of the dis- 
trict officers, the receiver will receive the additional payment of one dollar 
per acre, receipt therefor in duplicate, as per form ISTo. 56, and give the 
party a duplicate receipt. The register will also issue a final certificate of 
purchase, form No. 57. They will give to these final certificates and 
receipts a special series of numbers, and will make separate abstracts of 
same at the end of each month, sending up therewith the final certificates, 
receipts, and proofs. 

In cases where declarations shall be filed under this act for unsurveyed 
lands, the register and receiver will immediately forward copies of the 
declarations to the surveyor general, in order that the proper surveys may 
be made. The claimants will be required to take their claims by legal 
subdivisions when the lines of public surveys shall have been extended 
over the same. 

SALINE LANDS. 

The act of Congress of January 12, 1877, (copy attached, No. 6,) pro- 
vides a mode of proceeding by which public lands indicated by the field- 
notes of survey, or otherwise, to be saline in character may be rendered 
subject to disposal. 

Should prima facie evidence that certain tracts are saline in character be 
filed with the register and receiver of the proper land district, they will 
designate a time for a hearing at their office, and give notice to all parties 
in interest in order that they may have ample opportunity to be present 
with their witnesses. 

At the hearing the witnesses will be thoroughly examined with regard 
to the true character of the land, and whether the same contains any known 
mines of gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, copper, or other valuable mineral 
deposit, or any deposit of coal. 

The witnesses will also be examined in regard to the extent of the saline 
deposits upon the given tracts, and whether the same are claimed by any 
person; if so, the names of the claimants, and the extent of their improve- 
ments must be shown. 

The testimony should also show the agricultural capacities of the land, 
what kind of crops, if any, have been raised thereon, and the value thereof. 
The testimony should be as full and complete as possible, and, in addition 



30 

to the leading points indicated above, everything of importance bearing 
upon the question of the character of the land should be elicited at the 
hearing. 

The register and receiver will transmit the testimony to this office with 
their joint opinion thereon. When the case comes before this office, such 
a decision will be rendered in regard to the character of the land as the 
law and the facts may warrant. 

Should the given tracts be adjudged agricultural, they will be subject to 
disposal as such. Should the tracts be adjudged saline lands, the register 
and receiver will be instructed to offer the same for sale, after public notice, 
at the local land office of the district in which the same shall be situated, 
and to sell said tract or tracts to the highest bidder for cash, at a price of 
not less than $1.25 per acre. 

In case said lands fail to sell when so offered, the same will be subject 
to private sale at such land office for cash, at a price of not less than $1.25 
per acre, in the same manner as other public lands are sold, and already 
indicated herein. See page 6. 

The provisions of this act do not apply fo any lands within the Territories, 
nor to any within the States of Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida, California, 
and Nevada, none of which have had a grant of salines by act of Congress. 

TOWN SITES. 

The eighth chapter of the Revised Statutes of the United States, com- 
prising sections 2380 to 2394, and act of Congress of March 3, 1877, ''copies 
attached, ISTos. 1 and 7,) provide for the disposal of town sites on the public 
domain. 

There are two methods by which title to such town property may be ac- 
quired, subject to the election of parties desiring to do so : one provided for 
in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385, and the other in sections 2387, 2388, 
and 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the United States. The first method 
limits the extent of the area of the city or town to 640 acres, to be laid 
off into lots, and which, after filing in the General Land Office the tran- 
script, statement, and testimony required by section 2382, arc to be offered 
at public sale, to the highest bidder, at a minimum of ten dollars for each 
lot. Lots not thus disposed of are made thereafter liable to private entry 
at said minimum, or at such reasonable price as the Secretary of the In- 
terior may order from time to time, as the municipal property may increase 
or decrease, after at least three months' notice. 

A privilege, however, is granted to any actual settler upon any one lot of 
pre-empting that, and any additional lot on which he may have " substan- 
tial improvements," at said minimum, at any time before the day fixed for 
the public sale. 

There are, however, certain preliminary conditions to be complied with in 



31 

order to the enjoyment of the privileges granted in this section. Parties who 
have already founded, or may hereafter found, a city or town are required — 

1st. To file with the recorder of the county in which the town or city is 
situate a plat thereof, not exceeding 640 acres, describing its exterior bound- 
aries according to the lines of the public surveys, where such surveys have 
been executed. 

2d. Also the plat or map of such city or town must exhibit the name of 
the city or town, the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys; the size of the 
same, with measurements, and area of each municipal subdivision, the lots 
in which shall each not exceed 4,200 square feet, with a statement of the 
extent and general character of improvements. 

3d. Further, the said map and statement to be verified by oath by the 
party acting for and in the behalf of the founders of the city or town. 

4th. Within one month after filing the map or plat with the recorder of 
the county, a verified copy of said map and statement is to be sent to the 
General Land Office, accompanied by the testimony of two witnesses that 
such city or town has been established in good faith. 

5th. Where the city or town is within the limits of an organized land 
district, a similar copy of the map and statement must be filed with the 
register and receiver. 

Section 2383 provides for cities or towns founded on unsurveyed land, 
and directs that it may be lawful to adjust the exterior limits of the prem- 
ises with the lines of the public surveys, where it can be done without im- 
pairing the rights of others. It also provides for the issue of patents for 
lots disposed of under these provisions as in ordinary cases. 

Section 2384 authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, in case the parties 
interested shall fail or refuse, within twelve months of the founding of a 
city or town on the public domain, to file in the General Land Office a 
copy of the map, with the statement and testimony called for by section 
2382, to cause a survey and plat to be made of the said city or town, and 
thereafter the lots to be sold as provided, at an increase of fifty per cent. 
on the minimum price of ten dollars per lot. 

Sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 grant to the inhabitants of cities and 
towns on the public lands the privilege of entering the lands occupied as 
town sites at the minimum price of one dollar and twenty-five cents per 
acre, through the corporate authorities of such towns and cities, or the 
judges of the county courts acting as trustees for the occupants thereof. 

This privilege is granted where such mode of obtaining title to town 
property is preferred to that provided in sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 
2385, which are not repealed by the former sections. The inhabitants of 
these towns or cities are limited, however, to one or the other of the modes 
provided in these statutes, and cannot commence proceedings under both 
systems. 



32 

The provisions of sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 were originally 
embodied in the acts of Congress of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865; 
those of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389 in the act of March 2, 1867. 
Section 2394 is a re-enactment of the act of June 8, 1868. It has refer- 
ence to cases where the inhabitants of cities or towns proceeded to act 
under the provisions of the acts of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 1865, prior 
to June 22, 1874, the date of the Revised Statutes, and in which they have 
partly proved up and paid for the lots claimed by them according to said 
acts. It provides for extending the privilege of sections 2387, 2388, and 
2389, if the town authorities in any such case should elect to proceed under 
them, to such of the inhabitants as may not have paid for their lots, with- 
out interfering with the issuing of patents to those who had made or might 
make entries or elect to proceed under the acts of July 1, 1864, and March 3, 
1865, or sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385 of the Revised Statutes. 
Accordingly, should any case be presented where proceedings had been 
commenced, as aforesaid, by the inhabitants of any town or city before the 
date indicated,- and a part of them, not having entered and paid for their 
lots, desire to take advantage of the other system referred to, they would be 
entitled under section 2394, on application to the register and receiver of 
the proper district office, through the town authorities, pursuant to the 
provisions of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, to enter or file upon such 
portion of the town site as has not already been entered and paid for, and 
is not in possession of parties electing to complete their titles under the 
original proceedings; after which, that part of the town site so entered or 
filed upon will be disposed of under the last-mentioned sections, and the 
remaining portion, if any, under sections 2382, 2383, 2384, and 2385. 
Section 2394 has no reference to any case in which proceedings for acquir- 
ing title to the town site were commenced subsequent to June 22, 18 74, the 
inhabitants in all such cases being restricted to the method of acquiring title 
according to which they may have commenced to act. 

Section 2394 further provides that, in addition to the minimum price of 
the lands included in any town site entered under its provisions and those 
of sections 2387, 2388, and 2389, there shall be paid by the parties availing 
themselves thereof all costs of surveying and platting any such town site, 
and expenses incident thereto, incurred by the United States, before any 
patent therefor shall issue. Hence, when it is desired to enter a town site 
found upon the unsurveyed public lands, a written application should be 
presented to the surveyor general of the proper district for a survey of the 
same under section 2401 of the Revised Statutes, and the amount estimated 
by him as sufficient to cover the said cost and expenses deposited with any 
Assistant United States Treasurer or designated depositary in favor of the 
United States Treasurer, to be passed to the credit of the fund created by 
" Individual Depositors for the Survey of the Public Lands," the depositor 



33 

taking a duplicate certificate of deposit, one to be filed with the surveyor 
general to be sent to the General Land Office, and the other retained by the 
depositor. On receiving such certificate, showing that the requisite sum 
has been deposited in a proper manner to pay for the work, the surveyor 
general will transmit to the register and receiver of the district land office 
his certificate of such payment having been made, and will contract with a 
competent United States deputy surveyor, and have the survey made and 
returned in the same manner as other public surveys, after which the lands 
embraced within the site may be entered, or filed upon, as in the case of 
town sites upon surveyed lands. 

When town sites are located upon land already surveyed, the entry must 
be made in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public lands, and 
here no costs in regard to past surveys will be exacted. When sites are 
upon unsurveyed land, it will be necessary, after the extension thereto of 
the public survey, to close those lines upon the exterior limits of the town 
site. 

Section 2389, it will be observed, stipulates that there shall be conceded, 
where the number of inhabitants is one hundred and less than two hundred, 
not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres ; where the population is 
more than two hundred and less than one thousand, not exceeding six hun- 
dred and forty acres ; and where the inhabitants number one thousand and 
over, not exceeding twelve hundred and eighty acres ; and for each addi- 
tional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thousand in all, a further 
grant of three hundred and twenty acres. 

All military and other reservations of the United States, private grants, 
and valid mining claims are excluded from the operation of these town-site 
laws. In patents issued thereunder it is expressly declared as follows, viz : 
" No title shall be hereby acquired to any mine of gold, silver, cinnabar, 
or copper, or any valid mining claim or possession held under existing 
laws of Congress." [Section 2392, Kev. Stats.] 

In any Territory in which a land office may not have been established, 
the declaratory statements provided for in the foregoing statutes may be 
filed with the surveyor general of the proper district. 

In the act of Congress of March 3, 1877, section 1 restricts the amount 
of land that can be reserved from pre-emption and homestead entry, by 
reason of the existence or incorporation of a town upon the public domain, 
to 2,560 acres, unless the excess shall "be actually settled upon, inhabited, 
improved, and used for business and municipal purposes." 

Section 2 confirms pre-emption and homestead entries already made within 
the corporate limits of a town, the entries being regular in all respects, 
provided it shall be satisfactorily shown that the lands so entered are "not 
settled upon or used for any municipal purpose, nor devoted to any public 

use of such town." 
3 



34 

Section 3 provides : That when it shall appear that the corporate limits 
of a town embrace lands in excess of the maximum quantity allowed, the 
proper authorities may select those portions that are actually occupied, 
used, and improved for municipal purposes, which lands shall be reserved 
from pre-emption and homestead entry, and. the residue will be restored, or 
become subject to such settlement and entry. This selection must be made 
within sixty days from notice, and in default thereof, a hearing will be 
ordered and testimony taken as to the condition of the land, and such por- 
tion set apart as shall appear to be within the meaning of the act. 

The fourth section, with the proviso to the second section, provides for 
additional entries by towns, where entries have already been made, in cases 
in which an increase in the number of inhabitants would entitle them to 
an entry of a larger area under section 2389 of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, such entries, however, to be within the maximum amount, 
or 2,560 acres. 

STONE AND TIMBER LANDS. 

The first, second, and third sections of the act of Congress of June 3, 
1878, (copy attached, No. 8,) provide for the sale of surveyed lands in 
California, Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory not yet pro- 
claimed and offered at public sale, valuable chiefly for timber and stone, 
unfit for cultivation, and consequently for disposal under the pre-emption 
and homestead laws. When a party applies to purchase a tract thereunder, 
the register and receiver will require him to make affidavit that he is a 
citizen of the United States by birth or naturalization, or that he has de- 
clared his intention to become a citizen under the naturalization laws. If 
native born, parol evidence of that fact will be received. If not native 
born, record evidence of the prescribed qualification must be furnished. 
In connection therewith, he will be required to make the sworn statement 
in duplicate, according to the attached form, No. 58, as provided for in the 
second section of the act. One of the duplicate statements filed in each 
is by the act required to be transmitted to this office, and the registers and 
receivers will accordingly send up with their monthly returns the duplicate 
statements to be transmitted for the month. 

The evidence in regard to the publication of notice required to be fur- 
nished, in the third section of the act, must consist of the affidavit of the 
publisher or other person having charge of the newspaper in which the 
notice is published, with a copy of the notice attached thereto, setting forth 
the nature of his connection with the paper, and that the notice was duly 
published for the prescribed period. The evidence required in the same 
section with regard to the non-mineral character of the land, and its unoc- 
cupied and unimproved condition, must consist of the testimony of at least 
two disinterested witnesses, to the effect that they know the facts to which 



35 

they testify from personal inspection of the land and of each of its smallest 
legal subdivisions, as per form attached, ]No. 59. This testimoDv may be 
taken before the register or receiver, or any officer using an official seal and 
authorized to administer oaths in the land district in which the land lies. 
Upon such proof being produced, if no adverse claim shall have been filed, 
the entry applied for may be allowed in pursuance of the provisions of the 
act. The receiver will issue his receipt for the purchase money, and the 
register his certificate of purchase, numbering the entry in the regular cash 
series. (Forms of application, receipt, and certificate are attached, Nos. 14, 
15, and 16.) The register and receiver will enter the sale on their books 
and make the usual returns therefor to this office, noting on the monthly 
abstracts, opposite the entry, and on the entry papers, a reference to the 
act of Congress under which allowed. They will forward all the papers 
in the case with their returns to this office, except the retained duplicate 
statement filed under the second section of the act, to which the register 
will give the same number with the other papers for the entry, and retain 
it on the appropriate file with the formal application in his office. 

The register and receiver will be entitled to a fee of five dollars each for 
allowing an entry under said act, and jointly at the rate of twenty-two cents 
and a half per hundred words for testimony reduced by them to writing 
for claimants, which will be accounted for as other fees. 

If, at the expiration of the sixty days' notice provided for in the third 
section of the act, an adverse claim should be found to exist calling for an 
investigation, the register and receiver will allow the parties a hearing ac- 
cording to the rules of practice. 

In case of an association of persons making application for such an 
entry, each of the persons must prove the requisite qualifications, and their 
names must appear in and be subscribed to the sworn statement, as in case 
of an individual person. They must also unite in the regular application 
for entry, which will be made in their joint names as in other cases of joint 
cash entry. The forms prescribed for cases of applications by individual, 
persons may be adapted for use in applications of this class. 

PRESENTATION OF APPEALS. 

Any person making application to file upon or enter a tract of public 
land, having complied with the law and regulations touching the presen- 
tation of such applications, and feeling aggrieved by the refusal of the reg- 
ister and receiver to recognize his claim, or by any order, direction, or con- 
dition affecting the same, may appeal from the action of those officers to the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, who is by law invested with the 
supervision and control of all matters relating to the disposal of the public 
lands, subject to the direction of the S3cretary of the Interior. (Revised 
Statutes, sees. 453 and 2478.) 



36 

For the purpose of enabling such appeal to be taken and perfected, the 
register and receiver will indorse upon the written application the date 
when presented and their reasons for refusing it, promptly advising the 
party in interest of the facts, and note upon their records a memorandum 
of the transaction. The party aggrieved will then be allowed thirty days 
from the receipt of notice of such action within which to file his appeal to 
the Commissioner. 

The appeal must be in writing, definitely setting forth in clear and con- 
cise terms the specific points of exception to the decision appealed from, and 
the reason or reasons upon which such exceptions are based. 

Of the sufficiency of such appeal this office will be the judge, and will 
dismiss from further notice any case wherein the appeal is based upon 
frivolous grounds, or where the proper formalities and grounds are want- 
ing, unless, in the record itself, either of the case or upon the books of this 
office, some sufficient cause shall be found for further consideration under 
the general power of supervision vested in the Commissioner by law. 

Upon objection to the finding of this office regarding an appeal, the 
matter will be reported to the Honorable Secretary of the Interior for his 
direction therein. 

The appeal must in all cases be filed with the district officers, to be for- 
warded by them with a full report of the case to this office. 

This report should recite the proceedings had, to wit: The application 
and rejection, with the reasons therefor, and also the status of the tract 
involved, as shown by the records of the office, together with a reference 
to all entries, filings, annotations, memoranda, and correspondence shown 
by such record relating thereto, so as to direct the attention of the Com- 
missioner to all the material facts and issues necessary to a proper deter- 
mination of the questions presented. 

No appeal from the decision of the register and receiver will be received 
at the General Land Office unless forwarded through the local officers in 
the manner herein prescribed. 

The report should be forwarded at once upon the filing of the appeal, 
except in contested cases after regular hearing, when, unless all parties 
request its earlier transmission, it should not be made until the expiration 
of the thirty days included in the notice, in order that all parties may have 
full opportunity to examine the record and prepare their argument upon 
the questions at issue. All documents once received must be kept on file 
with the cases, and no papers will be allowed under any circumstances to 
be removed from such files or taken from the custody of the register and 
receiver; but access to the same under proper rules, so as not to interfere 
with necessary public business, should be permitted to the parties in interest, 
under the supervision of those officers. 

Upon any question relating to the disposal of the public lands, appeal 



37 

from the decision of the Commissioner of the General Land Office will lie 
to the Secretary of the Interior, (Revised Statutes, sees. 441, 2273,) except 
in cases of interlocutory orders and decisions, and orders for hearing, or 
other matters resting in the sound discretion of the Commissioner. Such 
latter cases constitute matters of exception, which should be noted, and they 
will be considered by the Secretary on review. 

The appeal is required to be made in writing, fairly and specifically 
stating the points of exception to the decision appealed from, and must be 
filed either with the register and receiver for transmission, or with the 
Commissioner, within sixty days from receipt, by the party or his attorney, 
of the notice of the decision. 

After appeal is filed, the fact of its receipt and pendency will be promptly 
communicated to the district office and to the parties, and thirty days from 
service of such notice will be allowed for the filing of argument on the 
points involved in the controversy. At the expiration of the time pre- 
scribed, the papers and record will be forwarded to the Secretary of the 
Interior. All arguments shall be filed with the Commissioner within the 
time specified in the notice, in order that they may be referred to and con- 
sidered in transmitting the case to the Secretary, if deemed expedient by 
the Commissioner. Examination of cases on appeal to the Secretary will 
be facilitated by filing in printed form such argument as it is desired to 
have considered. 

Decisions of the Commissioner not appealed from within the period pre- 
scribed become final, and the case will be regularly closed. (Revised Stat- 
utes, sec. 2273.) 

The decision of the Secretary is necessarily final, so far as respects the 
action of the Executive. 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

It is the duty of the registers and receivers to be in attendance at their 
offices, and give proper facilities and information to persons applying for 
lands. 

Within three days from the close of each month they are required to 
make out and transmit to the General Land Office a statement of the busi- 
ness of their respective offices for the preceding month. 

These reports are in the form of abstracts of pre-emption declarations 
and of soldiers' declarations filed, abstracts of lands sold, abstracts of home- 
steads entered, abstracts of timber-culture entries allowed, abstracts of 
military bounty land warrants and of agricultural-college scrip located, 
accompanied by the certificates of purchase, receivers' receipts, homestead 
and timber-culture applications and affidavits, military bounty land war- 
rants and agricultural-college scrip surrendered as satisfied, and the certifi- 
cates of location thereof. Names of parties must be clearly and legibly 



38 

written in these papers to correspond with the signature to every applica- 
tion; and when spelled in two or more ways, or illegibly written by the 
person signing, the register must ascertain by proper inquiry the correct 
orthography and certify to the same upon the margin of the certificate. 

The abstracts, after being carefully examined by the register and receiver, 
are to be certified by them as correct and as in conformity with the papers 
in the entries or locations embraced therein, and with their records, which 
papers, abstracts, and records must agree with each other. 

The receiver is required also to render promptly a monthly account of all 
moneys received, showing the balance due the Government at the close of 
each month. 

At the end of every quarter he must also transmit a quarterly account as 
receiver; upon the several accounts an adjustment is here made, and sub- 
mitted to the Treasury Department for final settlement. 

He must also render a quarterly disbursing account of all moneys ex- 
pended. 

He is required to deposit the moneys received by him at some deposi- 
tory designated by the Secretary of the Treasury, when the amount on 
hand shall have reached the sum of one thousand dollars; and in no case 
is he authorized, without special instructions, to hold a larger amount in 
his hands. 

Registers and receivers of the land offices are not authorized by law to 
make any charges for their services in accepting or entering pre-emption or 
homestead claims, other than such as are herein set forth. By section 2242 
of the Revised Statutes it is, among other things, provided that upon satis- 
factory proof that either of said officers has charged or received fees or other 
rewards not authorized by laAV, he shall forthwith be removed from office. 
To them, their official clerks and employes, and to those intimately and 
confidentially related to them, or their official clerks and employes, it is for- 
bidden to make entries of public lands at the district offices with which they 
are respectively connected. 

Laws and instructions relating to mining claims form the subject of a 
separate circular. 

J. A. WILLIAMSON, 

Commissioner of the General Land Office : 



39 



[No. 1.] 

REVISED STATUTES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 2. 

REGISTERS AND RECEIVERS. 

Section 2234. There shall be appointed by the Presi- te ^^™£ e ri resis " 
dent, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, a i n |Tand-(Sstricts. ablisl1 " 
•register of the land-office and a receiver of public moneys, for each land- 
district established by law. 

Sec. 2235. Every register and receiver shall reside at J^™^!* register 
the place where the land-office for which he is appointed i n gTand-<£stricts. ablish " 
is directed by law to be kept. 

Sec. 2236. Every register and receiver shall, before re f e °™! r of register and 
entering on the duties of his office, give bond in the penal i/^v^fpp 80 ?^?' 8 ! 
sum of ten thousand dollars, with approved security, for ^ Tof p'. 245?' c - 145 ' s - 5 ' 
the faithful discharge of his trust. 

Sec. 2237. Every register and receiver shall be allowed salaries of register and 

J o receiver. 

an annual salary of five hundred dollars. e,^i^ 7 409. 6 ^2o April" 

1818, c. 123, v. 3, p. 466. ' 

Sec. 2238. Registers and receivers, in addition to their of r5Ltel d aX?S?. s 
salaries, shall be allowed each the following fees and com- i2 4 v S 5 P p'«? 1 '2i Ma/' 
missions, namely : ff' c ' 38 ' s/ 4 ' v ' 13 ' p! 

First. A fee of one dollar for each declaratory statement filed, and for 
services in acting on pre-emption claims. 

Second. A commission of one per centum on all moneys v f } A ^» 1818 ' c - 123 
received at each receiver's office. 

Third. A commission to be paid by the homestead ap- 21 March, 1864, c. 38, 
plicant, at the time of entry, of one per centum on the 1862, V 75,' s. 6, v. 12, P ! 
cash price, as fixed by kw, of the land applied for; and a 294,' s. 25, v.i6,'p.32o! 
like commission when the claim is finally established, and the certificate 
therefor issued as the basis of a patent. 

Fourth. The same commission on lands entered under s j* ^JiJ°?j! $$?' c ' 277 ' 
any law to encourage the growth of timber on western prairies, as allowed 
when the like quantity of land is entered with money. 

Fifth. For locating military bounty-land warrants g fVS* < P£ SS 2 jiiiy' 
issued since the eleventh day of February, eighteen hun- 505 2 ' c ' 130 ' s ' 7 ' Y * 12 ' p ' 
dred and forty-seven, and for locating agricultural college land-scrip, the 
same commission to be paid by the holder or assignee of each warrant 'or 
scrip, as is allowed for sales of the public lands for cash, at the rate of one 
dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. 



40 

v .S 3 p a i r 6o 862,c ' 86 ' s - 6 ' Sixth. A fee, in donation cases, of five dollars for each 
final certificate for one hundred and sixty acres of land; ten dollars for 
three hundred and twenty acres ; and fifteen dollars for six hundred and 
forty acres. 

T.L^si 64 ' 0,196 ' 8 - 1, Seventh. In the location of lands by States and corpo- 
rations under grants from Congress for railroads and other purposes, 
(except for agricultural colleges,) a fee of one dollar for each final location 
of one hundred and sixty acres ; to be paid by the State or corporation 
making such location. 

5, 2 ' s^eT 820 ' c ' 51 ' s - Eighth. A fee of five dollars per diem for superintend- 
ing public-land sales at their respective offices ; and to each receiver, mile- 
age in going to and returning from depositing the public moneys received 
by him. 

12*?. r£ p'.95! 2,c ' 152 ' s ' Ninth. A fee of five dollars for filing and acting upon 
each application for patent or adverse claim filed for mineral lands, to be 
paid by the respective parties. 

s .fVja 'p h 35. 864 ' c ' 38 ' Tenth. Registers and receivers are allowed, jointly, at 
the rate of fifteen cents per hundred words for testimony reduced by them 
to writing for claimants, in establishing pre-emption and homestead rights. 
i2 1 v 3 i7 y p 1 95 2 ' c ' 152 ' s ' Eleventh. A like fee as provided in the preceding sub- 
division when such writing is done in the land-office, in establishing claims 
for mineral lands. 

21 March, 1864, c. 38, Twelfth. Registers and receivers in California, Oregon, 
lrai\e4 P 'estabHsiin V g -Washington, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, New Mexico, 
wyoming.and Montana! Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, and Montana, are each entitled 
to collect and receive fifty per centum on the fees and commissions pro- 
vided for in the first, third, and tenth subdivisions of this section. 

Fees of register and Sec. 2239. The register for any consolidated land-dis- 

receiver for consolidated .... -i-|», • , ,i n ii iti ini 

land offices. trict, m addition to the lees now allowed by law, snail be 

18 Feb., 1861, c. 38, ss. ,.,1-1,1 t • p i • , • , n 

1, 3, v. 12, p. 131. entitled to charge and receive lor making transcripts ior 

individuals, or furnishing any other record information respecting public 
lands or land-titles in his consolidated land-district, such fees as are prop- 
erly authorized by the tariff existing in the local courts of his district; and 
the receiver shall receive his equal share of such fees, and it shall be his 
duty to aid the register in the preparation of the transcripts, or giving the 
desired record information. 
Maximum of compen- Sec. 2240. The compensation of registers and receivers, 

sation for registers and .,,. , n -. .. i 1 1 • 

receivers. including salarv, iees, and commissions, shall in no case 

21 March, 1864, c. 38, 1 . ■ 1 i i \ i n 

a. 6, v. 13, p. 36. 20Api., exceed in the aggregate three thousand dollars a year. 

1818, c. 123, v, 3, p. 466. °° ° J 

20 M iiy , L862, c. 75, s.6, each i and no register or receiver shall receive for any one 

v. 12, p. 393. 30 May, ' b 

1SS % n-T 86 , 1 s -, r, \ v - 'r ''• quarter or fractional quarter more than a pro-rata allow- 

409. 1 July, 1864, c. 196, *■ * r 

Ai 1, l v > l J-; 1 '' m'' q! 2 ance of such maximum. 

March, 1852, c. L9, s. ■>. v. 

10, p. 4. 2 July, L862, c. ISO, B. 7, v. 12, p. 505. 2 Feb., 1859, c. lit, v . n, p. 378. 18 Feb.; 1861, c. 38, ss.1,3, v. 12, 

p. 131.— U. S.va. Babbit, 1 Bl.,55. 



41 

Sec. 2241. Whenever the amount of compensation re- Excess of compensa- 

r » .. . . tion to be paid into 

ceived at any land-omce exceeds tne maximum allowed by Treasury. 

J . J 3 March, 1853, c. 97, s, 

law to any register or receiver, tne excess shall be paid i,v.io,p.204. is Feb.. 

J & \ " 1861, c. 38, ss. 1, 3, v. 12, 

into the Treasury, as other public moneys. p- 131 - 

Sec. 2242. No register or receiver shall receive any niegai fees: penalty. 

° . ^ 22 March, 1852, c. 19, 

compensation out of the Treasury for past services who s.3,v.io, p.*. 17 July, 
r . . . 1854 » c - 84 > s - 6 > v - 10 > p- 

has charged or received illegal fees; and, on satisfactory 306 - 

proof that either of such officers has charged or received fees or other 

rewards not authorized by law, he shall be forthwith removed from office. 

Sec. 2243. The compensation of registers and receivers, compensation of reg- 

. . i ri -it isters and receivers, 

both for salary and commissions, shall commence and be ^en to commence. 

J ; 24 Feb., 1855, c. 124, s. 

calculated from the time they, respectively, enter on the 3, v. 10, p. cis. 
discharge of their duties. 

Sec. 2244. All registers and receivers shall be ap- Dl "' ati0Q ° f office of 

o 1 registers and receivers. 

pointed for the term of four years, but shall be removable 1 v Vp a *582 820 ' c - i02 ' s - 
at pleasure. 

Sec. 2245. The receivers shall make to the Secretary lv ^ e t ^ofrlSver e s !'" 
of the Treasury monthly returns of the moneys received v .5 j p U m^ 836 ' c ' 3o2,s ' 9 ' 
in their several offices, and pay over such money pursuant to his instruc- 
tions. And they shall also make to the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office like monthly returns, and transmit to him quarterly accounts-current 
of the debits and credits of their several offices with the United States. 

Sec. 2246. The register or receiver is authorized, and j^^^S^^. 
it shall be their duty, to administer any oath required by er J 2 June 1840 c 35 Y 
law or the instructions of the General Land-Office, in con- 5 ' p - 384 - 
nection with the entry or purchase of any tract of the public lands ; but 
he shall not charge or receive, directly or indirectly, any compensation for 
administering such oath. 

Sec. 2247. If any person applies to any register to enter for ^a?ioX byreg/rter! 11 " 
any land whatever, and the register knowingly and falsely isfy^p'.m?' °' 3 ° 2 ' s ' 
informs the person so applying that the same has already been entered, and 
refuses to permit the person so applying to enter the same, such register 
shall be liable therefor to the person so applying, for $5 for each acre of 
land which the person so applying offered to enter, to be recovered by action 
of debt in any court of record having jurisdiction of the amount. 



Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 4. 

PEE-*EMPTIOXS. 

Sec. 2257. All lands belonging to the United States, to H ^S^ 8Ubject t0 pre " 
which the Indian title has been or may hereafter be ex- i^.'S'p.'A? 2 ' °' 94 ' s ' 
tinguished, shall be subject to the right of pre-emption, under the condi- 
tions, restrictions, and stipulations provided by law. 



42 

preimpw subject t0 Sec - 2258 - Tlie following classes of lands, unless other- 
iofv S 5^p'.i 8 5 41 ' °' 1G ' "' w i se specially provided for -by law, shall not be subject to 
the rights of pre-emption, to- wit : 

First. Lands included in any reservation by any treaty, law, or procla- 
mation of the President, for any purpose. 

Second. Lands included within the limits of any incor- 

Wilcox vs. .Jackson, 13 .. ' 

Pet., 498; Josephs t». u. porated town, or selected as the site of a city or town. 

S., 1 N. and H., 197 ; L ; . J 

Turner vs. American Third. Lands actually settled and occupied for purposes 

Baptist Union, 5 Mc- J L L L 

Lean, 344; u.s. «s. Eaii- of trade and business, and not for agriculture. 

road Bridge Co., 6 Mc- } & 

Lean, 517; Russeii is. Fourth. Lands on which are situated any known salines 

Beebe, Hemps., 704. J 

or mines. 
Persons entitled to $ec. 2259. Every person, being the head of a family, 

pre-emption. J x ? ° ** ' 

4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. or widow, or single person, over the age of twenty-one 

10, v. 5, p. 4o5. 7 o 1 ? o J 

PeY' 407 S; L^ti? 1 ?' a?- y ears ' anc ^ a citizen of the United States, or having filed a 
OunSeham 10 ^'' IS- declaration of intention to become such, as required by the 
n2xii 4 HeiIs VJ.' Ash- naturalization laws, who has made, or hereafter makes, a 
GarL?! 1 ^ 1 ^ ^,' 4 ^ settlement in person on the public lands subject to pre- 
unde'rhiii, i^bl^bS- emption, and who inhabits and improves the same, and 

Witherspoon vs. Dun- -it , -i in > i it n n 

can, 4 wan., 218. who has erected or shall erect a dwelling thereon, is author- 

ized to enter with the register of the land-office for the district in which 
such land lies, by legal subdivisions, any number of acres not exceeding 
160, or a quarter section of land, to include the residence of such claimant, 
upon paying to the United States the minimum price of such land. 
to^r r e-°empt?o°n. entitled Sec. 2260. The following classes of persons, unless 
io 4 v S 5, P p.'455 41 ' °' 1G ' s ' otherwise specially provided for by law, shall not acquire 
any right of pre-emption under the provisions of the preceding sections, 
to- wit : 

First. ISTo person who is the proprietor of 320 acres of land in any State 
or Territory. 

Second. No person who quits or abandons his residence on his own land 
to reside on the public land in the same State or Territory. 
en^Tonlioht. of pre " Sec - 2261 - No person shall be entitled to more than 
iofv?^p.'4a£\ c i&ii,' one pre-emptive right by virtue of the provisions of sec- 
1843, c. so, s.4, v. 5, p! tion 2259 . nor where a party has filed hig declaration of 

intention to claim the benefits of such provisions, for one tract of land, shall 
he file, at any future time, a second declaration for another tract. 
i 8 t?wherfm e r d;p^nauyf Sec - 2262 - B"f° re an ) r person claiming the benefit of 
i£v. e £l'.m} c ' 16 ' s " tn ^ s chapter is allowed to enter lands, he shall make oath 
before the receiver or register of the land-district in which the land is sit- 
uated that he has never had the benefit of any right of pre-emption under 
section 2259 ; that he is not the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or 
Territory; that lie has not settled upon and improved such land to sell the 
same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to his own exclu- 



43 

give use ; and that lie has not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement 
or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whatever, by which 
the title which he might acquire from the Government of the United States 
should inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except him- 
self; and if any person taking such oath swears falsely in the premises, he 
shall forfeit the money which he may have paid for such land, and all right 
and title to the same ; and any grant or conveyance which he may have 
made, except in the hands of bona fide purchasers, for a valuable consider- 
ation, shall be null and void, except as provided in section 2288. And it 
shall be the duty of the officer administering such oath to file a certificate 
thereof in the public land-office of such district, and to transmit a duplicate 
copy to the General Land-Office, either of which shall be good and suffi- 
cient evidence that such oath was administered according to law. 

Sec. 2263. Prior to any entries being made under and Proof of settlement; 

assignment of pre-emp- 

bv virtue of the provisions of section 2259, proof of the a » n ri «* ltB - 0iM 1C 

-L 7 t L 4 Sept., 1841, c. 16, s. 

settlement and improvement thereby required shall be 2 \J^ ] i 46 Ji. kaiWM 9 
made to the satisfaction of the register and receiver of the g^ g 2hiey C i4 n Ho^ 
land-district in which such lands lie, agreeably to such AsWe^He^JS^w!; 
rules as may be prescribed by the Secretary of the Inte- S^^^S^S: 
rior; and all assignments and transfers of the right hereby HarkrlX'^ underbill] 
secured, prior to the issuing of the patent, shall be null Hawse, 2bl, 554 ; Myers 

, . , vs. Croft, 13 Wall., 291. 

and void. 

Sec. 2264. When any person settles or improves a tract ^SSSithiJteSto 
of land subject at the time of settlement to private entry, ]e^7?o a priv!i\r L !,n!ry* ul '" 
and intends to purchase the same under the preceding pro- is^Ifp.' 4 * 8 7 41 ' c ' 16 ' s ' 
visions of this chapter, he shall, within thirty days after the date of such 
settlement, file with the register of the proper district a written statement, 
describing the land settled upon, and declaring his intention to claim the 
same under the pre-emption laws ; and he shall, moreover, within twelve 
months after the date of such settlement, make the proof, affidavit, and 
payment hereinbefore required. If he fails to file such written statement, 
or to make such affidavit, proof, and payment within the several periods 
named above, the tract of land so settled and improved shall be subject to 
the entry of any other purchaser. 

Sec. 2265. Every claimant under the pre-emption law ciaim filed by settler 

P11 i • -i n i • • i .on land not proclaimed 

lor land not yet proclaimed lor sale is required to make for sale. 

. . . . n 3 March, 1843, c. 8G, s. 

known his claim in writing; to the register of the proper 5 .- v - 5 , p- 620. 

° & L x Johnson vs. Tawsley, 

land-office within three months from the time of the set- is waii., 72. 
tlement, giving the designation of the tract and the time of settlement; 
otherwise his claim shall be forfeited and the tract awarded to the next 
settler, in the order of time, on the same tract of land, who has given such 
notice and otherwise complied with the conditions of the law. 



44 

mfnt'oTSrs oifun- Sec - 2266 - In regard to settlements which are author- 
juveyeci lands, when - zec j U p 011 unsurveyed lands, the pre-emption claimant shall 

7,T°2, a p.'4io 2 ' °' 86 ' s ' he in all cases required to file his declaratory statement 
within three months from the date of the receipt at the district land-office 
of the approved plat of the township embracing such pre-emption settle- 
ment. 

ante- "Sf 3? making Sec - 2267 - A11 claimants of pre-emption rights, under 
proof ami payment. ^ ^ e £ wo p reC a C ]i n g sections, shall, when no shorter time is 

March! lsn, P Kes' 52, v 3 prescribed by law, make the proper proof and payment 
' p " ' for the land claimed within thirty months after the date 

prescribed therein, respectively, for filing their declaratory notices, has 
expired. 

ceSaJf clses to pSLJS Sec - 2268 - Where a pre-emptor has taken the initiatory 
ser^ce. tary and naval steps required by law in regard to actual settlement, and 
s. 5N- M i3™p.'35 864 ' c " 3S ' i s called away from such . settlement by being engaged 
in the military or naval service of the United States, and by reason 
of such absence is unable to appear at the district land-office to make 
before the register or receiver the affidavit, proof, and payment, respec- 
tively, required by the preceding provisions of this chapter, the time for 
filing such affidavit and 'making final proof and entry or location shall be 
extended six months after the expiration of his term of service, upon 
satisfactory proof by affidavit, or the testimony of witnesses, that such 
pre-emptor is so in the service, being filed with the register of the land- 
office for the district in which his settlement is made. 
mS a g h c b iaim! XTo Sec - 2269 - Where a party entitled to claim the benefits 
C0 3 1 Marc'hfi843, c so, s. 0I> the pre-emption laws dies before consummating his 
2, v. 5, p. G2o. claim, by filing in due time all the papers essential to the 

establishment of the same, it shall be competent for the executor or admin- 
istrator of the estate , of such party, or one of his heirs, to file the neces- 
sary papers to complete the same ; but the entry in such cases shall be 
made in favor of the heirs of the deceased pre-emptor, and a patent thereon 
shall cause the title to inure to such heirs, as if their names had been 
specially mentioned. 

Non-eompiiance with g EC> 2270. Whenever the vacancy of the office either 
recer?ernoUo e affS<£ 0I * register or receiver, or of both, renders it impossible 
^v.^p^o? 43 ' ' 86 ' 8 ' f°r the claimant to comply with any requisition of the 
pre-emption laws within the appointed time, such vacancy shall not operate 
to the detriment of the party claiming, in respect to any matter essential 
to the establishment of his claim ; but such requisition must be complied 
with within the same period after the disability is removed as would have 
been allowed had such disability not existed. 



45 

Sec. 2271. The provisions of this chapter shall be so la ^° s .^'"liS^ot 1 con- 
construed as not to confer on any one a right of pre-emp- fil S C Aui. L i^ L T ' 205 
tion, by reason of a settlement made on a tract theretofore v ' °' p " 534 " 
disposed of, when such disposal has not been confirmed by the General 
Land-Office, on account of any alleged defect therein. 

Sec. 2272. Nothing in the provisions of this chapter Purchase by private 

,, 1n -. -.-, -i -, entiy after expiration 

shall be construed to preclude any person, who mav nave of pre-emption right. 

__ _ . „. . , . r» i t i 3 March, 1843, c. 86, s. 

filed a notice 01 intention to claim any tract ot land by 9, v. 5, p. 621. 
pre-emption, from the right allowed by law to others to purchase such 
tract by private entry after the expiration of the right of pre-emption. 

Sec. 2273. When two or more persons settle on the AVhen more than 01ie 
same tract of land, the right of pre-emption shall be in to t coSSfiSn°e f r appealfi 
him who made the first settlement, provided such person 11, v . If p! 456. 'Sjunej 
conforms to the other provision of the law; and all ques- P .'326. c ' ' s ' ' v " ' 

,. , ,1 ■ 1 , p ,• • • i , t no Barnard vs. Ashley, IS 

tions as to the ri^ht ot pre-emption arising between diner- How., 43 ; Garland vs. 
ent settlers shall be determined by the register and receiver "sey vs. Hawse, 2 bl, 554; 

. . . i • i i i i • • i i Minnesota vs. Batchel- 

01 the district within which the land is situated: and der, 1 wan, 109 : j im- 

. son vs. Tawsley, 13 

appeals from the decision of district officers, in cases of wan., 72. 
contest for the right of pre-emption, shall be made to the Commissioner of 
the General Land-Office, whose decision shall be final, unless appeal there- 
from be taken to the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 2274. When settlements have been made upon agri- m !^®!!™!S5 L Uy °Z 

i- • o more persons on »ame 

cultural public lands of the United States prior to the ^ division before SU1 - 
survey thereof, and it has been or shall be ascertained, B . ( } ^ a n, h P .m' c ' 2&3 ' 
after the public surveys have been extended over such lands, that two or 
more settlers have improvements upon the same legal subdivision, it shall 
be lawful for such settlers to make joint entry of their lands at the local 
land-office, or for either of said settlers to enter into contract with his co- 
settlers to convey to them their portion of said land after a patent is issued 
to him, and, after making such contract, to file a declaratory statement in 
his own name, and prove up and pay for said land, and proof of joint 
occupation by himself and others, and of such contract with them made, 
shall be equivalent to proof of sole occupation and pre-emption by the 
applicant : Provided, That in no case shall the amount patented under this 
section exceed one hundred and sixty acres, nor shall this section apply to 
lands not subject to homestead or pre-emption entry. 

Sec. 2275. Where settlements, with a view to pre- settlements before sm- 

p , r>iii vey on sections 16 or 36, 

emption, have been made before the survey 01 the lands deficiencies thereof. 

, , , tit i • 26 Feb., 1859, c. 58, v. 

in the field, which are found to have been made on sections n, p- sss. 
sixteen or thirty-six, those sections shall be subject to the pre-emption 
claim of such settler; and if they, or either of them, have been or shall 
be reserved or pledged for the use of schools or colleges in the State or 
Territory in which the lands lie, other lands of like quantity are appro- 



11 

c. 8 



46 

priated in lieu of such as may be patented by pre-emptors ; and other lands 
are also appropriated to compensate deficiencies for school purposes, where 
sections sixteen or thirty-six are fractional in quantity, or where one or 
both are wanting by reason of the township being fractional, or from any 
natural cause whatever. 

delcSe n s S of 35 Sec - 2276 - Tne lands appropriated by the preceding 
la 26 S Fet>., 1859, c. 58, v. section shall be selected, within the same land-district, in 

83,'s. 8 i,'v. 2 4,p :a m 826 ' accordance with the following principles of adjustment, 
to wit: For each township or fractional township containing a greater 
quantity of land than three-quarters of an entire township, one section; 
for a fractional township containing a greater quantity of land than one- 
half, and not more than three-quarters, of a township, three-quarters of a 
section; for a fractional township containing a greater quantity of land 
than one-quarter, and not more than one-half, of a township, one half- 
section; and for a fractional township containing a greater quantity of 
land than one entire section, and not more than one-quarter, of a township, 
one quarter-section of land. 

Military bounty-iand Sec. 2277. All] warrants for military bounty-lands, 

warrants receivable for . . ' 1 TT .. in 

pre-emption payments, which are issued under anv laAV oi the United btates, shall 

22 March, 1852, c. 19 . J . 7 

s. i, v. io, p. 3. be received m payment of pre-emption rights at the rate 

of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, for the quantity of land therein 
specified ; but where the land is rated at one dollar and twenty-five cents 
per acre, and does not exceed the area specified in the warrant, it must be 
taken in full satisfaction thereof. 
Agricultural - college Sec 2278. Agricultural-college scrip, issued to any 

scrip receivable in pay- i • i i 

ment of pre-emptions. State under the act approved July second, eighteen hun- 

Uuly, 1870, c. 196, v. -,,-,. \ i 7» t_ n i 

16, p. 186. area and sixty-two, or acts amendatory thereof, shall be 

received from actual settlers in payment of pre-emption claims in the same 
manner and to the same extent as authorized in case of military bounty- 
land warrants, by the preceding section, 
pre-emption limit g EC 2 279. No person shall have the right of pre- 

along railroad lines. Jr or 

v.io M p a . r 244. 1853 ' C ' U?J ' emption to more than one hundred and sixty acres along 
the line of railroads within the limits granted by any act of Congress. 
pre-emption rights Sec. 2280. Any settler on lands heretofore reserved on 

on lands reserved for .. . in • i j_i 

grants found invalid, account of claims under h reiich, Spanish, or other grants, 
v- io, p. 244. ' which have been or may be hereafter declared by the 

Supreme Court of the United States to be invalid, shall be entitled to all 
the rights of pre-emption granted by the preceding provisions of this 
chapter, after the lands have been released from reservation, in the same 
manner as if no reservation had existed, 
pre-emption rights Sec. 2281. All settlers on public lands which have 

on lands reserved for . . . , , n 1 

railroads. been or may be withdrawn from market in consequence 

v. io, p. 269. 14 July] of proposed railroads, and who had settled thereon prior 

1870, c. 272. s. 2, \. L6, , , , _ ,,,■,, • i i 

p. 279. to such withdrawal, shall be entitled to pre-emption at 



47 

the ordinary minimum to the lands settled on and cultivated by them ; but 
they shall file the proper notices of their claims and make proof and pay- 
ment as in other cases. 

Sec. 2282. Nothing contained in this chapter shall de g£ e ed ° f & £ nd not t0 be 
delay the sale of any of the public lands beyond the time u% Se ^'.lsf}' c ' 16 ' s ' 
appointed by the proclamation of the President. 

Sec. 2283. The Osage Indian trust and diminished- S as,hSJtobesoid. an ' 
reserve lands in the State of Kansas, excepting the six- i,v.i7%'.9o. ' c ' 
teenth and thirty-sixth sections in each township, shall be subject to dis- 
posal, for cash only, to actual settlers, in quantities not exceeding one 
hundred and sixty acres, or one quarter-section to each, in compact form, 
in accordance with the general principles of the pre-emption laws, under 
the direction of the Commissioner of the General Land-Office; but claim- 
ants shall file their declaratory statements as prescribed in other cases upon 
unoffered lands, and shall pay for the tracts, .respectively, settled upon 
within one year from date of settlement where the plat of survey is on file 
at that date, and within one year from the filing of the township-plat in 
the district office where such plat is not on file at date of settlement. 

Sec. 2284. The sale or transfer of his claim upon any Transfer of above 

,. pji i i i ,,1 • , ,i , , claims prior to, &c sub- 

portion oi these lands by any settler prior to the twenty- sequent right of entry. 
sixth day of April, eighteen hundred and seventy-one, v.rr,p.9o. '" 
shall not operate to preclude the right of entry, under the provisions of the 
preceding section, upon another tract settled upon subsequent to such sale 
or transfer; but satisfactory proof of good faith must be furnished upon 
such subsequent settlement. 

Sec. 2285. The restrictions of the pre-emption laws, pre-emption restrio 

.-,. . lii-i- i tions not to apply to cer- 

containecl m sections twenty-two hundred and sixty and tain lands in Kansas. 

9 May, 1872 c. 140 s. 

twenty-two hundred and sixty-one, shall not apply to any 3, v. 17, p'. 90. 
settler on the Osage Indian trust and diminished-reserve lands in the State 
of Kansas, who was actually residing on his claim on the ninth day of 
May, eighteen hundred and seventy-two. 

Sec. 2286. There shall be granted to the several coun- ti | ^ft ^j™ 
ties or parishes of each State and Territory, where there 1} ^±l%] 824 ' c ' 1C9 ' s ' 
are public lands, at the minimum price for which public lands of the 
United States are sold, the right of pre-emption to one quarter-section of 
land, in each of the counties or parishes, in trust for such counties or par- 
ishes, respectively, for the establishment of seats of justice therein; but the 
proceeds of the sale of each such quarter-section shall be appropriated for the 
purpose of erecting public buildings in the county or parish for which it is 
located, after deducting therefrom the amount originally paid for the same. 
And the seat of justice for such counties or parishes, respectively, shall be 
fixed previously to a sale of the adjoining lands within the county or parish 
for which the same is located. 



48 

where claimant of en- Sec. 2287. Any bona-fide settler under the homestead 
receive?™ * or pre-eniption laws of the United States who has filed the 

20 April, 1871, c. 21, s. L * 

16, v. n, p. io. proper application to enter not to exceed one quarter-sec- 

tion of the public lands in any district land-office, and who has been sub- 
sequently appointed a register or receiver, may perfect the title to the land 
under the pre-emption laws by furnishing the proofs and making the pay- 
ments required by law, to the satisfaction of the Commissioner of the Gen- 
eral Land-Office. 

seSfrlnle^ZSLl Sec - 2288 - An 7 P 3rson wno has already settled or here- 
Sertehip^biirpurposS after may settle on the public lands, either by pre-emption 
ctm,Y.ri,vSo2. ,1Sn ' or by virtue of the homestead law or any amendments 
thereto, shall have the right to transfer, by warranty against his own acts, 
any portion of his pre-emption or homestead for church, cemetery, or school 
purposes, and for the right of way of railroads across such pre-emption or 
homestead, and the transfer for such public purposes shall in no way vitiate 
the right to complete and perfect the title to their pre-emptions or home- 
steads. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 5. 

Homesteads. 

who may enter cer- Sec. 2289. Every person w r ho is the head of a family, 

tainunappropriatedpub- -.-, • i , ,i r> , • i • 

lie lands. or who has arrived at the age 01 twenty-one years, and is 

1, v. 12, p. 392. ' a citizen of the United States, or who has filed his declara- 

tion of intention to become such, as required by the naturalization laws, 
shall be entitled to enter one quarter-section or a less quantity of unappro- 
priated public lands, upon which such person may have filed a pre-emption 
claim, or which may, at the time the application is made, be subject to pre- 
emption at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; or eighty acres or 
less of such unappropriated lands at two dollars and fifty cents per acre, to 
be located in a body, in conformity to the legal subdivisions of the public 
lands, and after the same have been surveyed. And every person owning 
and residing on land may, under the provisions of this section, enter other 
land lying contiguous to his land, which shall not, with the land so already 
owned and occupied, exceed in the aggregate one hundred and sixty acres. 
2i June,i86?c U i2 e 7, 8 . Sec - 229 °- Tnc person applying for the benefit of the 
1862'," %%'. a~v. i2?p! preceding section shall, upon application to the register of 
88,s.2,v.i3*p!35. ' the land-office in which he is about to make such entry, 
make affidavit before the register or receiver that he is the head of a family, 
or is twenty-one years or more of age, or has performed service in the 
Army or Navy of the United States, and that such application is made for 
his exclusive use and benefit, and that his entry is made for the purpose of 
actual settlement and cultivation, and not either directly or indirectly for 



49 

the use or benefit of any other person; and upon filing such affidavit with 
the register or receiver, on payment of five dollars when the entry is of not 
more than eighty acres, and on payment of ten dollars when the entry is 
for more than eighty acres, he shall thereupon be permitted to enter the 
amount of land specified. 

Sec. 2291. No certificate, however, shall be given, or J%lfi^!^gl^ 
patent issued therefor, until the expiration of five years 2 ^ii U p. e 67. 866 ' c * 127 ' s ' 
from the date of such entry; and if at the expiration of such time, or at 
any time within two years thereafter, the person making such entry; or if 
he be dead, his widow; or in case of her death, his heirs or devisee; or in 
case of a widow making such entry, her heirs or devisee, in case of her 
death, proves by two credible witnesses that he, she, or they have resided 
upon or cultivated the same for the term of five years immediately suc- 
ceeding the time of filing the affidavit, and makes affidavit that no part of 
such land has been alienated, except as provided in section twenty-two hun- 
dred and eighty-eight, and that he, she, or they will bear true allegiance to 
the Government of the United States; then, in such case, he, she, or they, 
if at that time citizens of the United States, shall be entitled to a patent, as 
in other cases provided by law. 

Sec. 2292. In case of the death of both father and when rights inure to 

.1 i . . n . i «i i i .-• -i -. . , th e benefit of infant chil- 

motner, leaving an infant child or children under twenty- dren. 
one years of age, the right and fee shall inure to the bene- 2,y.i4, p .g7. 
fit of such infant child or children; and the executor, administrator, or 
guardian may, at any time within two years after the death of the surviving 
parent, and In accordance with the laws of the State in which such children, 
for the time being, have their domicile, sell the land for the benefit of such 
infants, but for no other purpose; and the purchaser shall acquire the 
absolute title by the purchase, and be entitled to a patent from the United 
States on the payment of the office fees and sum of money above specified. 
Sec. 2293. In case of any person desirous of availing M S^tKd 
himself of the benefits of this chapter, but who, by reason £a^ t whom t0 make 
of actual service in the military or naval service of the B "|,V^p. 35. 86 ' c ' 38 ' 
United States, is unable to do the personal preliminary acts at the district 
land-office which the j)receding sections require ; and whose family, or some 
member thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to enter, and 
upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been made, such 
person may make the affidavit required by law before the officer command- 
ing in the branch of the service in which the party is engaged, which affi- 
davit shall be as binding in law, and with like penalties, as if taken before 
the register or receiver ; and upon such affidavit being filed with the reg- 
ister by the wife or other representative of the party, the same shall become 
effective from the date of such filing, provided the application and affidavit 
are accompanied by the fee and commissions as required by law. 

4 



50 

mS en affidavTt nS before Sec - 2294 - In an 7 case in which the applicant for the 
cl |i k Mlrch r i864 c 38, benefit of the homestead, and whose family, or some mem- 
s. 3, v. 13, p. 35. *fo eY thereof, is residing on the land which he desires to 

enter, and upon which a bona-fide improvement and settlement have been 
made, is prevented, by reason of distance, bodily infirmity, or other good 
cause, from personal attendance at the district land-office, it may be lawful 
for him to make the affidavit required by law before the clerk of the court 
for the county in which the applicant is an actual resident, and to transmit 
the same, with the fee and commissions, to the register and receiver. 
t _Record of appiica- g EC# 2 295. The register of the land-office shall note all 
3,v iS'393 62 ' c * 75 ' 8 ' applications under the provisions of this chapter on the 
tract-books and plats of his office, and keep a register of all such entries, 
and make return thereof to the General Land-Office, together with the 
proof upon which they have been founded. 

Sec. 2296. No lands acquired under the provisions of 

Homestead lands not .-■. -■ . in* , i i • i i ■ ■ i . • 

to be subject to prior this chapter shall m any event become liable to the satis- 

fl plits 

20 May, 1862, c. 75, s. faction of any debt contracted prior to the issuing of the 

i, v. 12, p. 393. • / 

patent therefor. 
when lands entered Sec. 2297. If, at any time after the filing of the affi- 

for homestead revert to . . .-,. . in 

Government. davit, as required in section 2290, and before the expira- 

20 May, 1862, c. 75, s. ■ m y * ' m . . 

5, v. 12, p. 393. • tion of the five years mentioned in section 2291, it is 
proved, after due notice to the settler, to the satisfaction of the register of 
the land-office, that the person having filed such affidavit has actually 
changed his residence, or abandoned the land for more than six months at 
any time, then and in that event the land so entered shall revert to the 
Government. 

Limitation of amount Sec - 2298 - No P erson shall be permitted to acquire title 
^^om^'isg^c^^s t° more than one quarter-section under the provisions of 
e,T.ia,p.W ' " th i s cha pter. 

Existing pre-emption g EC> 2299. Nothing contained in this chapter shall be 

rights not impaired. o J. 

6 v°S a p'393 2 ' C 75 ' S so cons t m ed as t° impair or interfere in any manner with 
existing pre-emption rights; and all persons who may have filed their 
applications for a pre-emption right prior to the 20th day of May, 1862, 
shall be entitled to all the privileges of this chapter. 
what minors may Sec. 2300. No person who has served, or may hereafter 

have the privileges of n •iii,i r» , i »ji* 

tins chapter. serve, for a period not less than fourteen days in the Army 

6, v. 12, p.' 393. ' ' '" or Navy of the United States, either regular or volunteer, 

under the laws thereof, during the existence of an actual war, domestic or 

foreign, shall be deprived of the benefits of this chapter on account of not 

having attained the age of twenty-one years. 

Payments before ex- Sec. 2301. Nothing in this chapter shall be so con- 
pi rati on of five years, . 
rights of applicant. strued as to prevent any person who has availed himself 

20 May, 1862, C. 75,8. l . 

8 > v - 12 > l'- 393 - of the benefits of section 2289, from paying the minimum 



51 

price for the quantity of land so entered, at any time before the expiration 
of the five years, and obtaining a patent therefor from the Government, as 
in other cases directed by law, on making proof of settlement and cultiva- 
tion as provided by law, granting pre-emption rights. 

Sec. 2302. No distinction shall be made in the con- no distinction on ac- 

.. . count of race or color, 

struction or execution of this chapter on account of race &c - 

1 . 21 June, 1866, c. 127, 

or color; nor shall any mineral lands be liable to entry s.i,v.i4,p.67. 
and settlement under its provisions. 

* Sec. 2303. All the public lands in the States of Ala- 21 June, 1866, c. 127' 
bama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and Florida shall Repealed. 

/ . . 22 June > 1876, c. 165, 

be disposed of in no other manner than according to the v - 19 > p- 73 - 

terms and stipulations contained in the preceding provisions of this chapter. 

Sec. 2304. Every private soldier and officer who has ^^£2. and sailors ' 
served in the Army of the United States during the recent 1; ® J ^ \% 2, c * 338 ' s - 
rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has 
remained loyal to the Government, including the troops mustered into the 
service of the United States by virtue of the third section of an act approved 
February 13, 1862, and every seaman, marine, and officer who has served 
in the Navy of the United States, or in the Marine Corps, during the 
rebellion, for ninety days, and who was honorably discharged, and has 
remained loyal to the Government, shall, on compliance with the provisions 
of this chapter, as hereinafter modified, be entitled to enter upon and receive 
patents for a quantity of public lands not exceeding 160 acres, or one quarter- 
section, to be taken in compact form, according to legal subdivisions, in- 
cluding the alternate reserved sections of public land along the line of any 
railroad or other public work, not otherwise reserved or appropriated, and 
other lands subject to entry under the homestead laws of the United States ; 
but such homestead settler shall be allowed six months after locating his 
homestead, and filing his declaratory statement, within which to make his 
entry and commence his settlement and improvement. 

Sec. 2305. The time which the homestead settler has Deduction of military 

and naval service irom 

served in the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps shall be de- ^j^ 1872 338 
ducted from the time heretofore required to perfect title, i>^. 17, p. 333. 
or if discharged on account of wounds received or disability incurred in the 
line of duty, then the term of enlistment shall be deducted from the time 
heretofore required to perfect title, without reference to the length of time 
he may have served ; but no patent shall issue to any homestead settler who 
has not resided upon, improved, and cultivated his homestead for a period 
of at least one year after he shall have commenced his improvements. 
. Sec. 2306. Everv person entitled, under the provisions Persons who have en- 

x tered less than 160 

oi section 2304, to enter a homestead who may have here- acres, rights of. 

, 8 June, 1872, c. 338, s. 

tofore entered, under the homestead laws, a quantity of 2, v. 17, p. 333. 

* Repealed by act of June 22, 1876. 



52 

land less than 160 acres, shall be permitted to enter so much land as, when 
added to the quantity previously entered, shall not exceed 160 acres. 
widow and minor Sec. 2307. In case of the death of any person who 

children of persons en- -i-ii , • , i i i ^ , i -i j i •• n 

titled to homestead, &c would be entitled to a homestead under the provisions ot 

3, v. 17, p. 333? " section 2304, his widow, if unmarried, or in case of her 
death or marriage, then his minor orphan children, by a guardian duly 
appointed and officially accredited at the Department of the Interior, shall 
be entitled to all the benefits enumerated in this chapter, subject to all the 
provisions as to settlement and improvement therein contained ; but if such 
person died during his term of enlistment, the whole term of his enlistment 
shall be deducted from the time heretofore required to perfect the title. 

Actual service in the Sec. 2308. Where a party at the date of his entry of a 
lent to residence, &c. tract of land under the homestead laws, or subsequently 

8 June, 1872, c. 338, s. . i -i • i a 

4, v. 17, p. 333. thereto, was actually enlisted and employed m the Army 
or Navy of the United States, his services therein shall, in the administra- 
tion of such homestead laws, be construed to be equivalent, to all intents 
and purposes, to a residence for the same length of time upon the tract so 
entered. And if his entry has been canceled by reason of his absence from 
such tract while in the military or naval service of the United States, and 
such tract has not been disposed of, his entry shall be restored ; but if such 
tract has been disposed of, the party may enter another tract subject to 
entry under the homestead laws, and his right to a patent therefor may be 
determined by the proofs touching his residence and cultivation of the first 
tract and his absence therefrom in such service. 

^who may enter by Sec. 2309. Every soldier, sailor, marine, officer, or other 

5, v. J i7?p. 33I. 2 ' c ' 338 ' s ' person coming within the provisions of section 2304, may, 
as well by an agent as in person, enter upon such homestead by filing a 
declaratory statement, as in pre-emption cases ; but such claimant in person 
shall within the time prescribed make his actual entry, commence settle- 
ments and improvements on the same, and thereafter fulfill all the require- 
ments of law. 

chiefs, &c, of stock- Sec. 2310. Each of the chiefs, warriors, and heads of 
stead rights of. ' families of the Stockbridge Munsee tribes of Indians re- 

s. 4, v. 13, p.' 562. ' ' siding in the county of Shawana, State of Wisconsin, may, 
under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, enter a homestead and 
become entitled to all the benefits of this chapter, free from any fee or 
charge ; and any part of their present reservation, which is abandoned for 
that purpose, may be sold, under the direction of the Secretary of the Inte- 
rior, and the proceeds applied for the benefit of such Indians as may settle 
on homesteads, to aid them in improving the same. 

Exemptions of home- Sec. 2311. The homestead secured, by virtue of the 

Stead of Stockbridge -.. .. in , i i • , , i 

Munsees. preceding section, shall not be subject to anv tax, levy, or 

3 March 18G5 c. 127 

s. 4, v. 13, P .'5G2. ' ' sale ; nor shall it be sold, conveyed, mortgaged, or in any 



53 

manner incumbered, except upon the decree of the district court of the 
United States, as provided in the following section : 

Sec. 2312. Whenever any of the chiefs, warriors, or . stockbndge Munsees 

J ' ' becoming citizens. 

heads of families of the tribes mentioned in section twenty- & f. v M i?^'562? 5 ' c ' 127 ' 
three hundred and ten, having filed with the clerk of the district court of 
the United States a declaration of his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States, and to dissolve all relations with any Indian tribe, two years 
previous thereto, appears in such court, and proves to the satisfaction 
thereof, by the testimony of two citizens, that for five years last past he 
has adopted the habits of civilized life; that he has maintained himself and 
family by his own industry; that he reads and speaks the English lan- 
guage; that he is well disposed to become a peaceable and orderly citizen; 
and that he has sufficient capacity to manage his own affairs ; the court may 
enter a decree admitting him to all the rights of a citizen of the United 
States, and thenceforth he shall be no longer held or treated as a member 
of any Indian tribe, but shall be entitled to all the rights and privileges, 
and be subject to all the duties and liabilities to taxation of other citizens 
of the United States. But nothing herein contained shall be construed to 
deprive such chiefs, warriors, or heads of families of annuities to which 
they are or may be entitled. 

Title xxxii.— THE PUBLIC LANDS.— Ch. 8. 

EESERVATION AND SALE OF TOWN-SITES ON THE PUBLIC LANDS. 

Sec. 2380. The President is authorized to reserve from 9er T ^ e 7" sites t0 be re " 
the public lands, whether surveyed or unsurveyed, town- ^v.^™^. 861 ' ' 80 ' 8 ' 
sites on the shores of harbors, at the junction of rivers, important portages, 
or any natural or prospective centers of population. 

Sec. 2381. When, in the opinion of the President, the ye f e T™o\°o™ tohesur ~ 
public interests require it, it shall be the duty of the Sec- 2 , v. i2fp? 754 863 ' °" 8 °' s * 
retary of the Interior to cause any of such reservations, or part thereof, to 
be surveyed into urban or suburban lots of suitable size, and to fix by 
appraisement of disinterested persons their cash value, and to offer the 
same for sale at public outcry to the highest bidder, and thence afterward 
to be held subject to sale at private entry according to such regulations as 
the Secretary of the Interior may prescribe; but no lot shall be disposed 
of at public sale or private entry for less than the appraised value thereof. 
And all such sales shall be conducted by the register and receiver of the 
land-office in the district in which the reservation may be situated, in 
accordance with the instructions of the Commissioner of the General Land- 
Office. 



54 

pubii^ n ia°nds c . ity sites in Sec - 2382 - In an y case m which parties have already 
2, v. 13^! 343 4 ' °' 2 ° 5 ' s * founded, or may hereafter desire to found, a city or town 
on the public lands, it may be lawful for them to cause to be filed with the 
recorder for the county in which the same is situated, a plat thereof, for 
not exceeding six hundred and forty acres, describing its exterior bounda- 
ries according to the lines of the public surveys, where such surveys have 
been executed; also giving the name of such city or town, and exhibiting 
the streets, squares, blocks, lots, and alleys, the size of the same, with 
measurements and area of each municipal subdivision, the lots in which 
shall each not exceed four thousand two hundred square feet, with a state- 
ment of the extent and general character of the improvements; such map 
and statement to be verified under oath by the. party acting for and in 
behalf of the persons proposing to establish such city or town ; and within 
one month after such filing there shall be transmitted to the General Land- 
Office a verified transcript of such map and statement, accompanied by the 
testimony of two witnesses that such city or town has been established in 
good faith, and when the premises are within the limits of an organized 
land-district, a similar map and statement shall be filed with the register 
and receiver, and at any time after the filing of such map, statement, and 
testimony in the General Land-Office, it may be lawful for the President 
to cause the lots embraced within the limits of such city or town to be 
offered at public sale to the highest bidder, subject to a minimum of ten 
dollars for each lot; and such lots as may not be disposed of at public sale 
shall thereafter be liable to private entry at such minimum, or at such 
reasonable increase or diminution thereafter as the Secretary of the Interior 
may order from time to time, after at least three months' notice, in view of 
the increase or decrease in the value of the municipal property. But any 
actual settler upon any one lot, as above provided, and upon any additional 
lot in which he may have substantial improvements, shall be entitled to 
prove up and purchase the same as a pre-emption, at such minimum, at 
any time before the day fixed for the public sale. 

ii & red%on unsurveyS ^ EC - 2383. When such cities or towns are established 
how adjusted! 011 Umits ' lI P on unsurveyed lands, it may be lawful, after the exten- 
3,v.i3,p.'3M. 4 ' c-205 ' s ' sion thereto of the public surveys, to adjust the extension 
limits of the premises according to those lines, where it can be done without 
interference with rights which may be vested by sale; and patents for all 
lots so disposed of at public or private sale shall issue as in ordinary cases. 

when transcript maps Sec. 2384. If within twelve months from the establish- 
ed town are not filed in , n • , ,' ,i itt • xi j.' 

twelve months, proceed- ment oi a city or town on the public domain, the parties 
terior. k interested refuse or fail to file in the General Land-Office 

1 July, 1864, c. 205, a. . , .. , . , 

4, v. 13, p. 344. a transcript map, with the statement and testimony called 

for by the provisions of section twenty-three hundred and eighty-two, it 
may be lawful for the Secretary of the Interior to cause a survey and plat 



55 

to be made of such city or town, and thereafter the lots in the same shall 
be disposed of as required by such provisions, with this exception, that 
.they shall each be at an increase of fifty per centum on the minimum of 
ten dollars per lot. 

Sec. 2385. In the case of any city or town, in which where size of lots or 
the lots may be variant as to size from the limitation fixed era/ rait vaiy lomgen " 

, _ 1 . , 3 March, 1865, c. 107, s. 

in section twenty-three hundred and eignty-two, and m 2, v. 13, p. 530. 
which the lots and buildings, as municipal improvements, cover an area 
greater than six hundred and forty acres, such variance as to size of lots or 
excess in area shall prove no bar to such city or town claim under the pro- 
visions of that section; but the minimum price of each lot in such city or 
town, which may contain a greater number of square feet than the maxi- 
mum named in that section, shall be increased to such reasonable amount 
as the Secretary of the Interior may by rule establish. 

Sec. 2386. Where mineral veins are possessed, which i to ri " iectto 
possession is recognized by local authority, and to the ex- 2 ,v. I i3, r p h 53o. 65 ' c ' 1()7 ' s ' 
tent so possessed and recognized, the title to town-lots to be acquired shall 
be subject to such recognized possession and the necessary use thereof; but 
nothing contained in this section shall be so construed as to recognize any 
color of title in possessors for mining purposes as against the United States. 

Sec. 2387. Whenever any portion of the public lands Entryoftownauthor- 

■, * -, . , -1 -, -1 . -. . ities in trust for occu- 

nave been or may be settled upon and occupied as a town- pants. 

., . , . , , .-11 2 March, 1867, c. 177, v. 

site, not subject to entry under the agricultural pre-emp- i4, P .5ii. 
tion laws, it is lawful, in case such town be incorporated, for the corporate 
authorities thereof, and, if not incorporated, for the judge of the county 
court for the county in which such town is situated, to enter at the proper 
land-office, and at the minimum price, the land so settled and occupied in 
trust for the several use and benefit of the occupants thereof, according to 
their respective interests; the execution of which trust, as to the disposal 
of the lots in such town, and the proceeds of the sales thereof, to be con- 
ducted under such regulations as may be prescribed by the legislative 
authority of the State or Territory in which the same may be situated. 
Sec. 2388. The entry of the land provided for in the Entry under preced- 

-,. . 1 ing section, when to be 

preceding section shall be made, or a declaratory statement made. 

n i . . . 2 March, 1867, c. 177, 

of the purpose of the inhabitants to enter it as a town-site v - 14 > p- 541 - 
shall be filed with the register of the proper land-office, prior to the com- 
mencement of the public sale of the body of land in which it is included, 
and the entry or declaratory statement shall include only such land as is 
actually occupied by the town, and the title to which is in the United 
States; but in any Territory in which a land-office may not have been 
established, such declaratory statements may be filed with the surveyor- 
general of the surveying-district in which the lands are situated, who shall 
transmit the same to the General Land-Office. 



56 

Entry in proportion Sec. 2389. If upon surveyed lands, the entry shall in 

to number of inhabit- . .-,.., ,. n i-iti 

ants. its exterior limit be made in conformity to the legal sub- 

2 March, 1867, c.177, . . J to 

v. 14, p. 541. divisions of the public lands authorized by law ; and where 

the inhabitants are in number one hundred, and less than two hundred, 
shall embrace not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres; and in cases 
where the inhabitants of such town are more than two h undred, and less 
than one thousand, shall embrace not exceeding six hundred and forty 
acres; and where the number of inhabitants is one thousand and over one 
thousand, shall embrace not exceeding twelve hundred and eigbty acres; 
but for each additional one thousand inhabitants, not exceeding five thou- 
sand in all, a further grant of three hundred and twenty acres shall be 
allowed. 

Authorities of Salt Sec. 2390. The words "not exceeding five thousand in 
to entry. ' all," in the preceding section, shall not apply to Salt Lake 

1 July, 1870, c. 193, v. 7 . L , ° \ f . 

16, p. 183. City, m the Territory of Utah; but such section shall be 

so construed in its application to that city that lands may be entered for the 
full number of inhabitants contained therein, not exceeding fifteen thou- 
sand ; and as that city covers school-section number thirty-six, in township 
number one north, of range number one west, the same may be embraced 
in such entry, and indemnity shall be given therefor when a grant is made 
by Congress of sections sixteen and thirty-six, in the Territory of Utah, 
for school purposes. 

tee C s e t r o a bevo?d. ° f W Sec. 2391. Any act of the trustees not made in con- 
v.i4 M p. r 54i. 1867 ' c ' m ' formity to the regulations alluded to in section twenty- 
three hundred and eighty-seven shall be void. 
no title acquired to g EC< 2392. No title shall be acquired, under the fore- 

gold, mines, &c, or to J- 7 

m 2^rcM867 'c. 177, g om g provisions of this chapter, to any mine of gold, 
i868% P 5^t!i5,p.67. ne ' silver, cinnabar, or copper; or to any valid mining-claim 
or possession held under existing laws. 

er^aSsf&c.° ther **" Sec. 2393. The provisions of this chapter shall not 
T.i4 M p ar 54i. 1867 ' c " m ' apply to military or other reservations heretofore made 
by the United States, nor to reservations for light-houses, custom-houses, 
mints, or such other public purposes as the interests of the United States 
may require, whether held under reservations through the Land-Office by 
title derived from the Crown of Spain, or otherwise. 

inhabitants of towns Sec. 2394. The inhabitants of any town located on the 
to enter. ' ' public lands may avail themselves, if the town authorities 

8 June, 1868, c. 53, v. x J . . 

is, p. G7. choose to do so, of the provisions 01 sections twenty-three 

hundred and eighty-seven, twenty-three hundred and eighty-eight, and 
twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine; and in addition to the minimum 
price of the lands embracing any town-site so entered, there shall be paid 
by the parties availing themselves of such provisions all costs of surveying 
and platting any such town-site, and expenses incident thereto incurred by 



57 

the United States, before any patent issues therefor; but nothing contained 
in the sections herein cited shall prevent the issuance of patents to persons 
who have made or may hereafter make entries, and elect to proceed under 
other laws relative to town-sites in this chapter set forth. 

?JC *fi ?fx ?y* 3jC 5jC 

Title lxx.— CEIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath be- Perjury. 

n . . ., , „> . . 30 April, 1790, c. 9, s. 

tore a competent tribunal, orncer, or person, m any case m i8,y.i, P .ii6. 3 March, 
which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be us. ' 

• • ii i »n 'nit i »n U. S. vs. Passmore, 4 

administered, that he will testify, declare, depose, or certify Dall -> 372 ; u - s - vs - Bai - 

' # . . le y> 9 Pet -' 238 5 u - s - vs - 

truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, Wo ° d .> i* Pet., 430 ; u. s. 

or certificate by him subscribed is true, willfully and con- 204 „ ; . u ; n ? T f clar T ^' x 

J J J Galhs, 497; U. S. vs. Ken- 

trary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter drick > 2 Mas -> 69 - 
which he does not believe to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be 
punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by im- 
prisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, 
thereafter, be incapable of giving testimony in any court of the United 
States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See § 
1750.] 



[No. 2.] 

AN ACT to amend section twenty-two hundred and ninety-one of the Revised Statutes of the 
United States, in relation to proof required in homestead entries. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the proof of residence, oc- 
cupation, or cultivation, the affidavit of non-alienation, and the oath of 
allegiance, required to be made by section twenty-two hundred and ninety- 
one of the Revised Statutes of the United States, may be made before the 
judge, or in his absence, before the clerk of any court of record of the county 
and State, or district and Territory, in which the lands are situated ; and if 
said lands are situated in any unorganized county, such proof may be made 
in a similar manner in any adjacent county in said State or Territory ; and 
the proof, affidavit, and oath, when so made and duly subscribed, shall 
have the same force and effect as if made before the register or receiver of 
the proper land-district; and the same shall be transmitted by such judge, 
or the clerk of his court, to the register and the receiver, with the fee and 
charges allowed by law to him ; and the register and receiver shall be en- 
titled to the same fees for examining and approving said testimony as are 
now allowed by law for taking the same. 



58 

Sec. 2. That if any witness making such proof, or the said applicant 
making such affidavit or oath, swears falsely as to any material matter con- 
tained in said proof, affidavits, or oaths, the said false swearing being willful 
and corrupt, he shall be deemed guilty of perjury, and shall be liable to 
the same pains and penalties as if he had sworn falsely before the register. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[No. 3.] 

AN ACT for the relief of settlers on the public lands under the pre-emption laws. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That any person who has made a 
settlement on the public lands under the pre-emption laws, and has subse- 
quent to such settlement changed his filing in pursuance of law to that for 
a homestead entry upon the same tract of land, shall be entitled to have 
the time required to perfect his title under the homestead laws computed 
from the date of his original settlement heretofore made, or hereafter to be 
made, under the pre-emption laws, subject to all the provisions of the law 
relating to homesteads. 

Approved May 27, 1878. 



[No. 4.] 

AN ACT to amend an act entitled "An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the "Western 

Prairies." 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the act entitled " An Act to 
amend the act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on 
Western Prairies/" approved March thirteenth, eighteen hundred and 
seventy-four, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows : 
That any person who is the head of a family, or who has arrived at the 
age of twenty-one years, and is a citizen of the United States, or who shall 
have filed his declaration of intention to become such, as required by the 
naturalization laws of the United States, who shall plant, protect, and keep 
in a healthy, growing condition for eight years ten acres of timber, on any 
quarter-section of any of the public lands of the United States, or five acres 
on any legal subdivision of eighty acres, or two and one-half acres on any 
legal subdivision of forty acres or less, shall be entitled to a patent for the 
whole of said quarter-section, or of such legal subdivision of eighty or forty 
acres, or fractional subdivision of less than forty acres, as the case may be, 
at the expiration of said eight years, on making proof of such fact by not 
less than two credible witnesses, and a full compliance of the further con- 



59 

ditions as provided in section two : Provided further, That not more than 
one quarter of any section shall be thus granted, and that no person shall 
make more than one entry under the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 2. That the person applying for the benefits of this act shall, upon 
application to the register of the land-district in which he or she is about 
to make such entry, make affidavit, before the register or the receiver, or 
the clerk of some court of record, or officer authorized to administer oaths 
in the district where the land is situated ; which affidavit shall be as fol- 
lows, to wit : I, , having filed my application, number , 

for an entry under the provisions of an act entitled "An Act to amend an 
act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western 

Prairies/" approved , 187 — , do solemnly swear (or affirm) 

that I am the head of a family (or over twenty-one years of age), and a 
citizen of the United States (or have declared my intention to become such) ; 
that the section of land specified in my said application is composed exclu- 
sively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber; that this filing and 
entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclusive use 
and benefit; that I have made the said application in good faith, and not 
for the purpose of speculation, or directly or indirectly for the use or benefit 
of any other person or persons whomsoever; that I intend to hold and 
cultivate the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said 
act; and that I have not heretofore made an entry under this act, or the 
acts of which this is amendatory. And upon filing said affidavit with said 
register and said receiver, and on payment of ten dollars if the tract applied 
for is more than eighty acres, and five dollars if it is eighty acres or less, 
he or she shall thereupon be permitted to enter the quantity of land speci- 
fied; and the party making an entry of a quarter-section under the pro- 
visions of this act shall be required to break or plow five acres covered 
thereby the first year, five acres the second year, and to cultivate to crop 
or otherwise the five acres broken or plowed the first year ; the third year 
he or she shall cultivate to crop or otherwise the five acres broken the 
second year, and to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the five acres first 
broken or plowed, and to cultivate and put in crop or otherwise the remain- 
ing five acres, and the fourth year to plant in timber, seeds, or cuttings the 
remaining five acres. All entries of less quantity than one quarter-section 
shall be plowed, planted, cultivated and planted to trees, tree-seeds, or cut- 
tings, in the same manner and in the same proportion as hereinbefore pro- 
vided for a quarter-section : Provided, however, That in case such trees, 
seeds, or cuttings shall be destroyed by grasshoppers, or by extreme and 
unusual drouth, for any year or term of years, the time for planting such 
trees, seeds, or cuttings shall be extended one year for every such year that 
they are so destroyed: Provided further, That the person making such 
entry shall, before he or she shall be entitled to such extension of time, file 



60 

with the register and the receiver of the proper land-office an affidavit, 
corroborated by two witnesses, setting forth the destruction of such trees, 
and that, in consequence of such destruction, he or she is compelled to ask 
an extension of time, in accordance with the provisions of this act: And 
provided further, That no final certificate shall be given, or patent issued, 
for the land so entered, until the expiration of eight years from the date 
of such entry ; and if, at the expiration of such time, or at any time within 
five years thereafter, the person making such entry, or, if he or she be 
dead, his or her heirs or legal representatives, shall prove by two credible 
witnesses that he or she or they have planted, and, for not less than eight 
years, have cultivated and protected such quantity and character of trees as 
aforesaid; that not less than twenty-seven hundred trees were planted on 
each acre, and that at the time of making such proof there shall be then 
growing at least six hundred and seventy-five living and thrifty trees to 
each acre, they shall receive a patent for such tract of land. 

Sec. 3. That if at any time after the filing of said affidavit, and prior 
to the issuing of the patent for said land, the claimant shall fail to comply 
with any of the requirements of this act, then and in that event such land 
shall be subject to entry under the homestead laws, or by some other per- 
son under the provisions of this act: Provided, That the party making 
claim to said land, either as a homestead settler or under this act, shall 
give, at the time of filing his application, such notice to the original claimant 
as shall be prescribed by the rules established by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office ; and the rights of the parties shall be determined as 
in other contested cases. 

Sec. 4. That no land acquired under the provisions of this act shall, in 
any event, become liable to the satisfaction of any debt or debts contracted 
prior to the issuing of the final certificate therefor. 

Sec. 5. That the Commissioner of the General Land Office is hereby 
required to prepare and issue such rules and regulations, consistent with 
this act, as shall be necessary and proper to carry its provisions into effect; 
and that the registers and receivers of the several land-offices shall each be 
entitled to receive two dollars at the time of entry, and the like sum when 
the claim is finally established and the final certificate issued. 

Sec. 6. That the fifth section of the act entitled "An Act in addition to 
an act to punish crimes against the United States, and for other purposes," 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, shall extend to 
all oaths, affirmations, and affidavits required or authorized by this act. 

Sec. 7. That parties who have already made entries under the acts 
approved March third, eighteen hundred and seventy-three, and March 
thirteenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-four, of which this is amenda- 
tory, shall be permitted to complete the same upon full compliance with 
the provisions of this act; that is, they shall, at the time of making their 



61 

final proof, have had under cultivation, as required by this act, an amount 
of timber sufficient to make the number of acres required by this act. 

Sec. 8. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

Approved June 14, 1878. 



[No. 5.] 

A"N" ACT to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That it shall be lawful for any 
citizen of the United States, or any person of requisite age "who may be 
entitled to become a citizen, and who has filed his declaration to become 
such," and upon payment of twenty-five cents per acre, to file a declaration, 
under oath, with the register and the receiver of the land-district in which 
any desert land is situated, that he intends to reclaim a tract of desert land, 
not exceeding one section, by conducting water upon the same within the 
period of three years thereafter : Provided,, however. That the right to the 
use of water by the person so conducting the same on or to any tract of 
desert land of six hundred and forty acres shall depend upon bona fide 
prior appropriation ; and such right shall not exceed the amount of water 
actually appropriated and necessarily used for the purpose of irrigation and 
reclamation; and all surplus water over and above such actual appropria- 
tion and use, together with the water of all lakes, rivers, and other sources 
of water supply upon the public lands, and not navigable, shall remain 
and be held free for the appropriation and use of the public for irrigation, 
mining, and manufacturing purposes subject to existing rights. Said decla- 
ration shall describe particularly said section of land if surveyed, and if 
unsurveyed shall describe the same as nearly as possible without a survey. 
At any time within the period of three years after filing said declaration, 
upon making satisfactory proof to the register and receiver of the reclama- 
tion of said tract of land in the manner aforesaid, and upon the payment 
to the receiver of the additional sum of one dollar per acre for a tract of 
land not exceeding six hundred and forty acres to any one person, a patent 
for the same shall be issued to him : Provided, That no person shall be 
permitted to enter more than one tract of land, and not to exceed six hun- 
dred and forty acres, which shall be in compact form. 

Sec. 2. That all lands exclusive of timber lands and mineral lands which 
will not, without irrigation, produce some agricultural crop, shall be deemed 
desert lands within the meaning of this act, which fact shall be ascertained 
by proof of two or more credible witnesses under oath, whose affidavits 
shall be filed in the land-office in which said tract of land may be situated. 



62 

Sec. 8. That this act shall only apply to and take effect in the States of 
California, Oregon, and Nevada, and the Territories of Washington, Idaho, 
Montana, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, and Dakota, and the 
determination of what may be considered desert land shall be subject to the 
decision and regulation of the Commissioner of the General Land Office. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[No. 6.] 

AN" ACT providing for the sale of saline lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever it shall be made 
appear to the register and the receiver of any land-office of the United 
States that any lands within their district are saline in character, it shall be 
the duty of said register and said receiver, under the regulation of the Gen- 
eral Land Office, to take testimony in reference to such lands to ascertain 
their true character, and to report the -same to the General Land Office ; 
and if, upon such testimony, the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
shall find that such lands are saline and incapable of being purchased under 
any of the laws of the United States relative to the public domain, then, 
and in such case, such lands shall be offered for sale by public auction at 
the local land-office of the district in which the same shall be situated, 
under such regulations as shall be prescribed by the Commissioner of the 
General Land Office, and sold to the highest bidder for cash at a price not 
less than one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre; and in case said lands 
fail to sell when so offered, then the same shall be subject to private sale, 
at such land-office, for cash, at a price not less than one dollar and twenty- 
five cents per acre, in the same manner as other lands of the United States 
are sold : Provided, That the foregoing enactments shall not apply to any 
State or Territory which has not had a grant of salines by act of Congress, 
nor to any State which may have had such a grant, until either the grant 
has been fully satisfied, or the right of selection thereunder has expired by 
efflux of time. But nothing in this act shall authorize the sale or convey- 
ance of any title other than such as the United States has, and the patents 
issued shall be in the form of a release and quit-claim of all title of the 
United States in such lands. 

Sec. 2. That all executive proclamations relating to the sales of public 
lands shall be published in only one newspaper, the same to be printed and 
published in the State or Territory where the lands are situated, and to be 
designated by the Secretary of the Interior. 

Approved January 12, 1877. 



63 

[JS T o. 7.] 

AN ACT respecting the limits of reservations for town-sites upon the public domain. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the existence or incorpora- 
tion of any town upon the public lands of the United States shall not be 
held to exclude from pre-emption or homestead* entry a greater quantity 
than twenty-five hundred and sixty acres of land, or the maximum area 
which may be entered as a town-site under existing laws, unless the entire 
tract claimed or incorporated as such town-site shall, including and in excess 
of the area above specified, be actually settled upon, inhabited, improved, 
and used for business and municipal purposes. 

Sec. 2. That where entries have been heretofore allowed upon lands 
afterward ascertained to have been embraced in the corporate limits of any 
town, but which entries are or shall be shown, to the satisfaction of the 
Commissioner of the General Land Office, to include only vacant unoccu- 
pied lands of the United States, not settled upon or used for municipal 
purposes, nor devoted to any public use of such town, said entries, if regu- 
lar in all respects, are hereby confirmed and may be carried into patent: 
Provided, That this confirmation shall not operate to restrict the entry of 
any town-site to a smaller area than the maximum quantity of land which, 
by reason of present population, it may be entitled to enter under section 
twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes. 

Sec. 3. That whenever the corporate limits of any town upon the public 
domain are shown or alleged to include lands in excess of the maximum 
area specified in section one of this act, the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office may require the authorities of such town, and it shall be law- 
ful for them, to elect what portion of said lands, in compact form and em- 
bracing the actual site of the municipal occupation and improvement, shall 
be withheld from pre-emption and homestead entry; and thereafter the 
residue of such lands shall be open to disposal under the homestead and 
pre-emption laws. And upon default of said town authorities to make 
such selection within sixty days after notification ' by the Commissioner, he 
may direct testimony respecting the actual location and extent of said im- 
provements, to be taken by the register and receiver of the district in which 
such town may be situated; and, upon receipt of the same, he may deter- 
mine and set off the proper site according to section one of this act, and 
declare the remaining lands open to settlement and entry under the home- 
stead and pre-emption laws; and it shall be the duty of the secretary of 
each of the Territories of the United States to furnish the surveyor-general 
of the Territory, for the use of the United States, a copy duly certified of 
every act of the legislature of the Territory incorporating any city or town, 
the same to be forwarded by such secretary to the surveyor-general within 
one month from date of its approval. 



64 

Sec. 4. It shall be lawful for any town which has made, or may here- 
after make, entry of less than the maximum quantity of land named in 
section twenty-three hundred and eighty-nine of the Revised Statutes to 
make such additional entry, or entries, of contiguous tracts, which may be 
occupied for town purposes as when added to the entry or entries thereto- 
fore made will not exceed twenty-five hundred and sixty acres : Provided, 
That such additional entry shall not together with all prior entries be in 
excess of the area to which the town may be entitled at date of the addi- 
tional entry by virtue of its population as prescribed in said section twenty- 
three hundred and eighty-nine. 

Approved March 3, 1877. 



[No. 8.] 

AN ACT for the sale of timber lands in the States of California, Oregon, Nevada, and in 

Washington Territory. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled. That surveyed public lands of the 
United States within the States of California, Oregon, and Nevada, and in 
Washington Territory, not included within military, Indian, or other res- 
ervations of the United States, valuable chiefly for timber, but unfit for 
cultivation, and which have not been offered at public sale according to 
law, may be sold to citizens of the United States, or persons who have 
declared their intention to become such, in quantities not exceeding one 
hundred and sixty acres to any one person or association of persons, at the 
minimum price of two dollars and fifty cents per acre; and lands valuable 
chiefly for stone may be sold on the same terms as timber lands : Provided, 
That nothing herein contained shall defeat or impair any bona-fide claim 
under any law of the United States, or authorize the sale of any mining 
claim, or the improvements of any bona-fide settler, or lands containing 
gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal, or lands selected by the said States 
under any law of the United States donating lands for internal improve- 
ments, education, or other purposes : And provided further, That none of 
the rights conferred by the act approved July twenty-sixth, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty-six, entitled "An Act granting the right of way to ditch 
and canal owners over the public lands, and for other purposes," shall be 
abrogated by this act; and all patents granted shall be subject to any vested 
and accrued water rights, or rights to ditches and reservoirs used in con- 
nection with such water-rights, as may have been acquired under and by 
the provisions of said act; and such rights shall be expressly reserved in 
any patent issued under this act. 



65 

Sec. 2. That any person desiring to avail himself of the provisions of 
this act shall file with the register of the proper district a written statement 
in duplicate, one of which is to be transmitted to the General Land Office, 
designating by legal subdivisions the particular tract of land he desires to 
purchase, setting forth that the same is unfit for cultivation, and valuable 
chiefly for its timber or stone; that it is uninhabited ; contains no mining 
or other improvements, except for ditch or canal purposes, where any such 
do exist, save such as were made by or belong to the applicant, nor, as de- 
ponent verily believes, any valuable deposit of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, 
or coal; that deponent has made no other application under this act; that 
he does not apply to purchase the same on speculation, but in good faith to 
appropriate it to his own exclusive use and benefit; and that he has not, 
directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way or man- 
ner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which the title which he 
might acquire from the Government of the United States should inure, in 
whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except himself; which state- 
ment must be verified by the oath of the applicant before the register or 
the receiver of the land-office within the district where the land is situated ; 
and if any person taking such oath shall swear falsely in the premises, he 
shall be subject to all the pains and penalties of perjury, and shall forfeit 
the money which he may have paid for said lands, and all right arid title 
to the same ; and any grant or conveyance which he may have made, except 
in the hands of bona-fide purchasers, shall be null and void. 

Sec. 3. That upon the filing of said statement, as provided in the sec- 
ond section of this act, the register of the land-office shall post a notice of 
such application, embracing a description of the land by legal subdivisions, 
in his office, for a period of sixty days, and shall furnish the applicant a 
copy of the same for publication, at the expense of such applicant, in a 
newspaper published nearest the location of the premises, for a like period 
of time; and after the expiration of said sixty days, if no adverse claim 
shall have been filed, the person desiring to purchase shall furnish to the 
register of the land-office satisfactory evidence, first, that said notice of the 
application prepared by the register as aforesaid was duly published in a 
newspaper as herein required ; secondly, that the land is of the character 
contemplated in this act, unoccupied and without improvements, other than 
those excepted, either mining or agricultural, and that it apparently con- 
tains no valuable deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, or coal; and 
upon payment to the proper officer of the purchase-money of said land, 
together with the fees of the register and the receiver, as provided for in 
case of mining claims in the twelfth section of the act approved May tenth, 
eighteen hundred and seventy-two, the applicant may be permitted to enter 
said tract, and, on the transmission to the General Land Office of the papers 
and testimony in the case, a patent shall issue thereon : Provided, That any 
5 



66 

person having a valid claim to any portion of the land may object, in writ- 
ing, to the issuance of a patent to lands so held by him, stating the nature 
of his claim thereto ; and evidence shall be taken, and the merits of said 
objection shall be determined by the officers of the land-office, subject to 
appeal, as in other land cases. Effect shall be given to the foregoing pro- 
visions of this act by regulations to be prescribed by the Commissioner of 

the General Land Office. 

******* 

Sec. 6. That all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions 
of this act are hereby repealed. 
Approved June 3, 1878. 



[No. 9.] 

AN" ACT making appropriations to supply deficiencies in the appropriations for fiscal years 
ending June thirtieth, eighteen hundred and seventy-five, and prior years, and for other 
purposes. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, * * 

Sec. 15. That any Indian, born in the United States, who is the head 
of a family, or who has arrived at the age of twenty-one years, and who 
has abandoned, or may hereafter abandon, his tribal relations, shall, on 
making satisfactory proof of such abandonment under rules to be prescribed 
by the Secretary of the Interior, be entitled to the benefits of the act enti- 
tled "An Act to secure homesteads to actual settlers on the public domain," 
approved May twentieth, eighteen hundred and sixty-two, and the acts 
amendatory thereof, except that the provisions of the eighth section of the 
said act shall not be held to apply to entries made under this act: Provided, 
however. That the title to lands acquired by any Indian by virtue hereof 
shall not be subject to alienation or incumbrance, either by voluntary con- 
veyance, or the judgment, decree, or order of any court, and shall be and 
remain inalienable for a period of five years from the date of the patent 
issued therefor : Provided, That any such Indian shall be entitled to his 
distributive share of all annuities, tribal funds, lands, and other property, 
the same as though he had maintained his tribal relations; and any trans- 
fer, alienation, or incumbrance of any interest he may hold or claim by 
reason of his formal tribal relations shall be void. 

Sec. 16. That in all cases in which Indians have heretofore entered 
public lands under the homestead law, and have proceeded in accordance 
with the regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the General Land 
Office, or in which they may hereafter be allowed to so enter under said 
regulations prior to the promulgation of regulations to be established by the 
Secretary of the Interior under the fifteenth section of this act, and in which 



67 

the conditions prescribed by law have been or may be complied with, the 
entries so allowed are hereby confirmed, and patents shall be issued thereon ; 
subject, however, to the restrictions and limitations contained in the fifteenth 
section of this act in regard to alienation and incumbrance. 
Approved March 3, 1875. 



[No. 10.] 

AN ACT defining the manner in which certain land-scrip may be assigned and located, or 
applied by actual settlers, and providing for the issue of patents in the name of the locator 
or his legal representatives. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That whenever, in cases prose- 
cuted under the acts of Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen hun- 
dred and sixty, March second, eighteen hundred and sixty-seven, and the 
first section of the act of June tenth, eighteen hundred and seventy-two, 
providing for the adjustment of private land-claims in the States of Florida, 
Louisiana, and Missouri, the validity of the claim has been, or shall be 
hereafter, recognized by the Supreme Court of the United States, and the 
court has decreed that the plaintiff or plaintiffs is or are entitled to enter a 
certain number of acres upon the public lands of the United States, subject 
to private entry at one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, or to receive 
certificate of location for as much of the land the title to which has been 
established as has been disposed of by the United States, certificate of loca- 
tion shall be issued by the Commissioner of the General Land Office, attested 
by the seal of said office, to be located as provided for in the sixth section 
of the aforesaid act of Congress of June twenty-second, eighteen hundred 
and sixty, or applied according to the provisions of the second section of 
this act ; and said certificate of location or scrip shall be subdivided accord- 
ing to the request of the confirmee or confirmees, and, as nearly as prac- 
ticable, in conformity with the legal divisions and subdivisions of the 
public lands of the United States, and shall be, and are hereby declared to 
be, assignable by deed or instrument of writing, according to the form and 
pursuant to regulations prescribed by the Commissioner of the General 
Land Office, so as to vest the assignee with all the rights of the original 
owners of the scrip, including the right to locate the scrip in his own name. 

Sec. 2. That such scrip shall be received from actual settlers only in 
payment of pre-emption claims or in commutation of homestead claims, in 
the same manner and to the same extent as is now authorized by law in the 
case of military bounty-land warrants. 

Sec. 3. That the register of the proper land- office, upon any such certifi- 
cate being located, shall issue, in the name of the party making the location, 
a certificate of entry, upon which, if it shall appear to the satisfaction of 



68 

the Commissioner of the General Land Office that such certificate has been 
fairly obtained, according to the true intent and meaning of this act, a 
patent shall issue, as in other cases, in the name of the locator or his legal 
representative. 

Sec. 4. That the provisions of this act respecting the assignment and 
patenting of scrip and its application to pre-emption and homestead claims 
shall apply to the indemnity-certificates of location provided for by the act 
of the second of June, eighteen hundred and fifty-eight, entitled "An Act 
to provide for the location of certain confirmed private land-claims in the 
State of Missouri, and for other purposes." 

Approved January 28, 1879. 



[No. 11.] 

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within railroad 

limits. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United, 
States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage 
of this act, the even sections within the limits of any grant of public lands 
to any railroad company, or to any military road company, or to any State 
in aid of any railroad or military road, shall be open to settlers under the 
homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each set- 
tler, and any person who has, under existing laws, taken a homestead on 
any even section within the limits of any railroad or military road land- 
grant, and who by existing law r s shall have been restricted to eighty acres, 
may enter under the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoining 
the land embraced in his original entry, if such additional land be subject 
to entry; or if such person so elect, he may surrender his entry to the 
United States for cancellation, and thereupon be entitled to enter lands 
under the homestead laws the same as if the surrendered entry had not 
been made. And any person so making additional entry of eighty acres, 
or new entry after the surrender and cancellation of his original entry, shall 
be permitted so to do without payment of fees and commissions; and the 
residence and cultivation of such person upon and of the land embraced in 
his original entry shall be considered residence and cultivation for the same 
length of time upon and of the land embraced in his additional or new 
entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' residence and cultivation 
required by law : Provided, That in no case shall patent issue upon an addi- 
tional or new homestead entry under this act until the person has actually, 
and in conformity with the homestead laws, occupied, resided upon, and 
cultivated the land embraced therein at least one year. 

Approved March 3, 1879, 



69 
[.No. 12.] 

AN ACT to grant additional rights to homestead settlers on public lands within railroad 
limits in the States of Missouri and Arkansas. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That from and after the passage 
of this act the odd sections within the limits of any grant of public lands 
to any railroad company in the States of Missouri and Arkansas, or to such 
States respectively, in aid of any railroad, where the even sections have 
been granted to and received by any railroad company or by such States 
respectively in aid of any railroad, shall be open to settlers under the 
homestead laws to the extent of one hundred and sixty acres to each 
settler; and any person who has under existing laws taken a homestead on 
any section within the limits of any railroad grant in said States, and who 
by existing laws shall have been restricted to eighty acres, may enter under 
the homestead laws an additional eighty acres adjoining the land embraced 
in his original entry, if such additional land be subject to entry; or if such 
person so elect, he may surrender his entry to the United States for cancel- 
lation, and thereupon be entitled to enter lands under the homestead laws 
the same as if the surrendered entry had not been made. And any person 
so making additional entry of eighty acres, or new entry after the cancel- 
lation of his original entry, shall be permitted , to do so without payment 
of fees or commissions ; and the residence of such person upon and cultiva- 
tion of the land embraced in his original entry shall be considered residence 
and cultivation for the same length of time upon and of the land embraced 
in his additional or new entry, and shall be deducted from the five years' 
residence and cultivation required by law: Provided, That in no case shall 
patent issue upon an additional or new homestead entry under this act until 
the person has actually, and in conformity with the homestead laws, occu- 
pied, resided upon, and cultivated the land embraced therein at least one 
year. 

Approved July 1, 1879. 



[No. 13.] 

AN ACT to provide additional regulations for homestead and pre-emption entries of public 

lands. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That before final proof shall be 
submitted by any person claiming to enter agricultural lands under the 
laws providing for pre-emption or homestead entries, such person shall file 
with the register of the proper land-office a notice of his or her intention 
to make such proof, stating therein the description of lands to be entered, 



70 

and the names of the witnesses by whom the necessary facts will be estab- 
lished. Upon the filing of such notice the register shall publish a notice, 
that such application has been made, once a week for the period of thirty 
days, in a newspaper to be by him designated as published nearest to such 
land, and he shall also post such notice in some conspicuous place in his 
office for the same period. Such notice shall contain the names of the 
witnesses as stated in the application. At the expiration of said period of 
thirty days the claimant shall be entitled to make proof in the manner 
heretofore provided by law. The Secretary of the Interior shall make all 
necessary rules for giving effect to the foregoing provisions. 
Approved March 3, 1879. 



[No. 14.] 

CASH APPLICATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, , do hereby apply to purchase the of section 

, in township , of range , containing acres, according to the returns of the 

surveyor general, for which I have agreed with the register to give at the rate of per 

acre. 



I, , register of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that the lot above de- 
scribed contains acres, as mentioned above, and that the price agreed upon is per 

acre. 

, Register. 



[No. 15.] 
CASH RECEIPT. 

No. . Receiver's Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and cents ; 

being in fall for the quarter of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , 

containing acres and hundredths, at $ per acre. 

, Receiver. 



[No. 16.] 

CASH CERTIFICATE. 

No. Land Office at , 

{Dan ) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of law, , of county, State of. , 

on this day purchased of the register of this office the lot or of section No. , in town- 
ship No. , of range No. , containing acres, at the rate of dollars and 

ccnis per acre, amounting to dollars and cents, for which the said 

ha — made payment in full as required by law. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of 

the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to receive a patent for the 

lot above described. 

, Register. 



71 

[No. 17.] 



Land Office at 



{Date) , 18—. 

Mr. has this day paid dollars, the register's and receiver's fees, to file a 

declaratory statement, the receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged. 

, Receiver. 

No. . 

Mr. , having paid the fees, has this day filed in this office his declaratory 

statement, No. , for of section , in township , of range , containing 

acres, settled upon , 18 — , being offered. 

, Register. 



[No. 18.] 

DECLAEATOEY STATEMENT FOE CASES WHEEE THE LAND IS NOT SUB- 
JECT TO PEIVATE EJSTEY. 

I, , of , being , have, on the day of , A. D. 18 — , settled 

and improved the quarter of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , 

in the district of lands subject to sale at the land-office at , and containing acres, 

which land, has not yet been offered at public sale, and thus rendered subject to private entry; 
and I do hereby declare my intention to claim the said tract of land as a pre-emption right 
under section 2259 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



In presence of 



[No. 19.] 



DECLAEATOEY STATEMENT FOE CASES WHEEE THE LAND CLAIMED IS 

SUBJECT TO PEIVATE ENTEY. 

I, , of , being , have, since the 1st day of , A. D. 18 — , settled 

and improved the quarter of section No. , in township No. ; of range No. , 

in the district of lands subject to sale at the land-office at , and containing acres, 

which land had been rendered subject to private entry prior to my settlement thereon ; and I do 
hereby declare my intention to claim the said tract of land as a pre-emption right, under sec- 
tion 2259 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States. 

Given under my hand this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



In presence of ■ 



[No. 20.] 

AFFIDAVIT EEQUIEED OF PEE-EMPTION CLAIMANT. 

I, , claiming the right of pre-emption, under section 2259 of the Eevised 

Statutes of the United States, to the of section No. , of township No. , of range 

No. , subject to sale at , do solemnly that I have never -had the benefit of any 

right of pre-emption under said section; that I am not the owner of 320 acres of land in any 
State or Territory of the United States, nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell 
the same on speculation, but in good faith to appropriate it to my own exclusive use or bene- 
fit; and that I have not, directly or indirectly, made any agreement or contract, in any way 
or manner, with any person or persons whomsoever, by which the title which I may acquire 
from the Government of the United States should inure, in whole or in part, to the benefit of 
any person except myself. 



I, , of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , A. D. 18 — . 



72 

[No. 21.] 
PRE-EMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OP CLAIMANT. 

, being called as a witness in own behalf in support of pre-emption 

claim to the , testifies as folloAvs : 

Ques. 1. What is your name? (Be careful to give it in full, correctly spelled, in order that 
it may be here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which you desire to ob- 
tain.) 

Ans. . 



Ques. 2. What is your age? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you the head of a family, or a single person; and, if the head of a family, of 
whom does your family consist? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Are you a native-born citizen of the United States ? If not, have you declared 
your intention to become a citizen, and have you obtained a certificate of naturalization ? * 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is the land embraced in your pre-emption claim, above described, included within 
the limits of an incorporated town; or has it been selected as the site of a city or town, and 
actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? 
(If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. What is your post-office address? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Are you the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Have you left or abandoned a residence on land of your own in this to re- 
side upon the land above described? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Have you ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other land than that 
above described? (If so, give, as nearly as you can, the date thereof and description of the 
land. ) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Have you heretofore made a pre-emption entry? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Have you settled upon and improved the land for which }^ou now apply to sell 
the same on speculation? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Have you given any mortgage on this land, and have you made any agreement 
to sell the same ? • 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. When did you make settlement on the land, and what constituted your first act 
of settlement? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. What improvements, if any, were on the land at 'date of your settlement? (If 
any, state who owned them, and whether they now belong to you.) 

Ans. . 



*In case the party has been aaturalized, or lias only declared his intention to become a citizen, a certified copy 
of hi.s certificate of naturalization or declaration of intention, as the caso may be, must bo furnished. 



73 

Ques. 17. What improvements have you made on this land subsequent to your first act of 
settlement? (Describe them, and state the total value of the improvements owned by you 
thereon.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. When did you first establish your residence upon the land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Have you resided upon the land ever since? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. What use have you made of the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 21. How much of the land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since your settle- 
ment? 

Ans. . 

I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to 

the claimant before signed name thereto, and that the same was subscribed and 

sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the follow- 
ing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascer- 
tained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, de- 
pose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed is 
true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe to 
be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fiue of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See sec. 
1750.] 



[No. 22.] 

( The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. ) 

PRE-EMPTION PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

, being called as a witness in support of the pre-emption claim of 

to the , testifies as follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant in this case, and how 

long have you known ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to be ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a family,, 
of whom does the family consist? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States? (If not, state, if you can, 
what steps has taken to become naturalized.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. Are'you acquainted with the land above described ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Do you live in the vicinity of the land? 

Ans. . 



74 

Ques. 9. Is this land within the limits of an incorporated town, or has it been selected as 
the site of a city or town and actually settled and occupied for purposes of trade and business ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? 

If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Is the claimant the owner of 320 acres of land in any State or Territory? (State 
your knowledge in this regard. ) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has the claimant left or abandoned a residence on land of own in this 

to reside upon the land above described? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Has claimant ever filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for other land than 
that above described, or has heretofore made a pre-emption entry? (State your knowl- 
edge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Do you know whether the claimant has given any mortgage on this land, or made 
any agreement to sell the same? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. When did claimant first make settlement on the land, and what constituted his 
first act of settlement? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements does the claimant possess on the land, and what is the value 
of the same? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. When did* claimant first establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Has claimant resided upon the land continuously ever since? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 21. How much of the said land, if any, has been broken and cultivated since the 
claimant made settlement thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 22. Is it your belief that has acted in good faith in the settlement and 

improvement of the said land under the pre-emption laws ? Have you any knowledge to the 
contrary ? 

Ans. . 

Ques 23. Are you interested in this claim ? 

Ans. . . 



I HEREBY CERTITY that witness is a person of respectability; that each question and 

answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto, and 

that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



Note.— The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the follow- 
ing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascer- 
tained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title lxx.— CRIMES— Cii. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
casein which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testily, declare, 
depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 
is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe 
to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
Imprisonment, al hard labor, not more than live years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See 
sec. 1750.] 



75 

[No. 23.] 
HOMESTEAD. 



Land Office at 



Application No. . {Date) , 18 — . 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under section 2289 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, the of section , in township , of range , con- 
taining acres. 



Land Office at 



{Date) — , 18—. 

I, , register of the Land Office, do hereby certify that the above application is 

for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under section 
2289 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, and that there is no prior valid adverse 
right to the same. 

, Register, 



[No. 24.] 

HOMESTEAD. 
affidavit. 

Land Office at 



{Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under section 

2289 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, do solemnly swear that {here state whether 
the applicant is the head of a family, or over twenty-one years of age ; whether a citizen of the 
United States, or has filed his declaration of intention of becoming such; or, if under twenty-one 
years of age, that he has served not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United 

States during actual war; that said application, No. , is made for his or her exclusive benefit; 

and that said entry is made for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not, directly 
or indirectly, for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever,] and that I have 
not heretofore had the benefit of said section 2289. 



Sworn to and subscribed, this day of , before 



Register, [or Receiver.] 



[No. 25.] 



Receiver's Receipt, No. . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, 



{Date) , 18—. 

Received from — —, of county, , the sum of - — — dollars and 

cents, being the amount of fee and compensation of register and receiver for the entry of 

of section - — — , in township , of range , under section , Revised. Statutes 

of the United States. 

} Receiver. 



[No. 26.] 

Land Office at 



{Date) , 18—. 

I, , of — — , who made Homestead Application No. (or Pre-emption 

Declaratory Statement No. - — — ) for the [here describe the land], do hereby give notice of my 
intention to make final proof to establish my claim to the land above described, and that I 

expect to prove my claim by the following witnesses, viz : , of — — 

> of . 



76 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

Notice of the above application will be published in the published at , which I 

hereby designate as the newspaper published nearest the land described in said application. 

, Register. 



[No. 27.] 

notice for publication. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Notice is hereby given that the following-named settler has filed notice of his intention to 
make final proof in support of his claim and secure final entry thereof at the expiration of 

thirty days from the date of this notice, viz : , Homestead Application No. , 

(or Pre-emption Declaratory Statement No. ) for the [here describe the land], and he 

names the following as his witnesses, viz: , of , and , 

of . 



-, Register. 



[No. 28.]. 

consolidated notice for publication. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Notice is hereby given that the following-named settlers have filed notice of intention to 
make final proof in support of their claims and secure final entry thereof on the expiration of 
thirty days from the date of this notice, viz : 

, Homestead Application No. , for the -. The claimant names the 

following persons as his witnesses to prove his claim: ■ — — , of , and — 

, of . 



, Pre-emption Declaratory Statement No. , for the . The claimant 

names the following persons as his witnesses to prove his claim : , of , 

and , of . 

, Register. 



[No. 29 ] 

certificate as to the posting of notice. 

Land Office ai 



(Date) , 18—. 

I, , Register, do hereby certify that a notice, a printed copy of which is 

hereto attached, was by me posted in a conspicuous place in my office for a period of thirty 

days, I having first posted said notice on the day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 



[No. 30. 
HOMESTEAD PROOF. 
final affidavit required of homestead claimants, section 2291 OF the re- 
vised statutes of the united states. 
I, , having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in town- 
ship No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , under section 2289 of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by virtue of section 

2291 of the Revised Statutes of the United States ; and for that purpose do solemnly 

that I am a citizen of the United States; that I have made actual settlement upon and have 



77 

cultivated said land, having resided thereon since the — — day of — —, 18 — , to the present 
time ; that no part of said land has been alienated, except as provided in section 2288 of the 
Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler; that I will bear 
true allegiance to the Government of the United States ; and further, that I have not hereto- 
fore perfected or abandoned an entry made under the homestead laws of the United States. 



I, — , of the Land Office at — — -, do hereby certify that the above affidavit was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this — — day of ■, 18 — . 



[No. 31.] 
(This form will be used both in final homestead proof and commutation pre>of.) 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OI* CLAIMANT. 

— — - ; being called as a witness in — — own behalf in support of hmnesteacl 

entry for — -, testifies as follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your name? (Be careful to giye it in full, correctly spelled, in order thai 
it may be here written exactly as you wish it written in the patent which you desire to obtain.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your age? 

Ans. — — . 

Ques. 3. Are you the head of a family, or a single person ; and, if the head of a family., of 
whom does your family consist ? 

Ans. — ■ — . 

Ques. 4, Are you a native-born citizen of the United States? If not, have you declared 
your intention to become a citizen, and have you obtained a certificate of naturalization ?* 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on the land 
embraced in your homestead entry above described ? (If so, state what they are, and whether 
the springs or mineral deposits are valuable.) 

Ans. — — •. 

Ques. 6. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What is your post-office address? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Have you ever made a homestead entry except for this land, No. - - -"- - ? (If yota 
have, give, as nearly as you can, the date thereof and description of the land, and state whether 
the entry still subsists, or if it has been canceled, state the cause of its cancellation.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Have you sold the land or conveyed to any one your right and interest in the 
game; and, if so, to whom and for what purpose f 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Does any one except yourself claim the land under the homestead or pre-emptioB 
laws ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. When did you first make settlement on the said land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. When did you first establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. — . 

Note. — At the time of making proof the party should be required to surrender his original homestead dupli- 
cate receipt, or file an affidavit accounting for the same. 

*In case the party has been naturalized, a certified copy' of his certificate of naturalization must be furnished. 
In cases of commuted homesteads it is sufficient if the party has declared his intention to become a citizen, m 
which case- a certified copy of his declaration of intention must be furnished. 



78 

Ques. 13. At the date you have given as being the date that you first established your 
Residence upon the land, did you move thereon in person ? 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 14. Up to what time have you resided on the land? 

Ans. ■ -. 

Ques. 15. Was your residence upon the land continuous during the period named? 

Ans. — — -. 

Ques. 16. If you had a family during said period of residence on the homestead, did your 
family reside thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What improvements have you made or do you possess on the land? (Describe 
them.) 

Ans. , 

Ques. 18. When was your house built? 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 19. What is the total value of said improvements? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. For what purpose have you used the land? 

Ans. --. 

Ques. 21. How much of the land have you broken and cultivated, and what crops, if any, 
have you raised? 

Ans. -. 



I HEREBY CERTIFY that each question and answer in the foregoing testimony was read to 

the claimant before signed name thereto, and that the same was subscribed and 

sworn to before me this • day of -, 18 — . 



Note,— The officer before whom, the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the follow- 
ing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained 
that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, 
depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 
is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe 
to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See 
Sec. 1750. J 



[No» 32.] 

[The testimony of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case. This Fofltti will be used 
both in final homestead proof and commutation proof.] 

HOMESTEAD PROOF. 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS. 

~> ~ f being called as a witness in support of the homestead entry of — * — — — 

for — — , testifies as follows : 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address? 



Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation? 
Ana. . 



79 

Ques. 3. Are you well acquainted with , the claimant in this case, and how 

long have you known ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. How old do you know or believe claimant to he ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is claimant the head of a family, or a single person; and, if the head of a family, 
of whom does the family consist ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is claimant a native-born citizen of the United States? If not, what steps has 
taken to become a citizen! (State your knowledge in this regai'd.) 



Ans. 

Ques. 7. Has claimant been an inhabitant of the land above described ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Do you live in the vicinity of the land, and are you acquainted with the same? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Are there any indications of coal, salines, or minerals of any kind on this land? 
(If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits are valuable.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Is the land more valuable for agricultural than mineral purposes? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. When did claimant first make settlement on the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. When did claimant establish a residence upon the land? 

Ans. ■. 

Ques. 13. Up to what time has claimant resided upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. Has residence been continuous during the period named ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. If claimant had a family during said period of residence, did the family reside 
on the land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 16. When was the claimant's house built upon the land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. What other improvements have been made on the land? 

Ans. . 

<^ues. 18. What is the total value of the improvements ? 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 19. For what purpose has the land been used by claimant? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 20. How much of the land has been broken and cultivated, and what crops, if any ; 
have been raised ? 

Ans. . 

Ques 21. Has claimant made a homestead entry for other land than that above described? 
(State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 22. Has claimant alienated any portion of the land — 'that is, conveyed it to some one 
else; and if so, to whom and for what purpose? (State your knowledge in this regard.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 23. Is it your belief that *— ; the claimant, has acted in good faith in the 

settlement and improvement of the said land as a homestead? Have you any knowledge to 
the contrary? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 24. Are you interested in this claim ? 

Ans. . 



80 

I HEREBY CERTIFY that witness is a person of respectability; that each question and 

answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto • 

and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



Kote. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the witness to the follow- 
ing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascer- 
tained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law : 

Title lxx,— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 
Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, 
depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 
is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe 
to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See 
sec. 1750.] 



[No. 33.] 
Receiver's Final Receipt, No. — — . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Receiver's Office, 



(Date) — , 18—. 

Received from — ■ », of — — county, , the sum of dollars and cents, 

being the balance of payment required by law for the entry of the of section , in 

township ', of range *, containing * acres, under section of the Revised 

Statutes of the United States. 

, Receiver. 



[No. 34.] 
Final Certificate No. — — . Application No. 

HOMESTEAD. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

It is hereby certified, pursuant to section 2291, Revised Statutes of the United States, that 
-, of— — county, , has made payment in full for of section No. , 



in township No. , of range No. , containing acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of 

the General Land Office, the said — shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of 

land above described. 

— ' , Register. 



[No. 35.] 

[To be used in cases of commuted homestead entries. For taking the testimony of claimant and his witnesses 
in making commutation proof, use the prescribed forms for " Homestead Proof."] 

AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF CLAIMANT. 

[Section 2301 of the Revised Statutes f the United State?.] 

\ } , — i f claiming the right to commute, under section 2301 of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States, my homestead entry No. -, made upon the section , town- 
ship — — , range >, do solemnly swear that I made settlement upon said land on the 

day of , 18 — , and that since such date, to wit: on the day of , 18 — , I have 

built a house on said land, and have continued to reside therein up to the present time; that I 
have broken and cultivated — — acres of said land, and that no part of said land has been 
alienated, except as provided in section 2288 of the Revised Statutes, but that I am the sole 
bona fide owner as an actual settler. 

I further swear that I have not heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under the 
homestead laws of the United States. . 



Land Office, 

Subscribed and sworn to before me this day of — — . 



, Register. 



81 

[No. 36.] 

ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD. 

affidavit. 

Laxd Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. — — , for an entry under the 

provisions of the act of Congress approved May 20, 1862, entitled " An Act to secure home- 
steads to actual settlers on the public domain/'' do solemnly swear that \here 

state icheiher the applicant is the head of a family, or over Uoenty-one years of age; whether a 
citizen of the United States, or has filed his declaration of intention of becoming such, or, if under 
ticenty-one years of age, that he has served not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the 
United States during actual war] ; that said entry is made for my own exclusive benefit, and 
not directly or indirectly for the benefit or use of any other person or persons whomsoever ; 
neither have I heretofore perfected or abandoned an entry made under this act ; that the land 

embraced in said application No. is intended for an adjoining farm homestead; that I 

now own and reside upon an original farm containing acres, and no more; that the same 

comprises the of section , township , range , and is contiguous to the tract 

this day applied for. 



Sworn to and subscribed this dav of , before 



of the Land Office. 



[No. 37.] 
FINAL AFFIDAVIT REQUIRED OF ADJOINING FARM HOMESTEAD CLAIM- 
ANTS. 

(Section 2291, Eevised Statutes.) 

I, , having made a homestead entry of the section No. , in township 

No. , of range No. , subject to entry at , for the use of an adjoining farm owned 

and occupied by me on the of section No. , in township No. , of range No. , 

under section 2289 of the Revised Statutes, do now apply to perfect my claim thereto by 

virtue of section 2291 of the same, and for that purpose do solemnly that I am a citizen 

of the United States ; that I have continued to own and occupy the land constituting my 

original farm, having resided thereon since the day of , 18 — , to the present time, 

and have made use of the said entered tract as a part of my homestead, and have improved 

the same in the following manner, viz : . That no part of said land has been alienated, 

but that I am the sole bona fide owner as an actual settler ; that I will bear true allegiance to 
the Government of the United States ; and, further, that I have not heretofore perfected or 
abandoned an entry under the homestead laws. 



I, , of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was 

taken and subscribed before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 38.] 

[To be used in making final proof in cases where pre-emption filings have been changed to homestead entries 
under the acts of March 3, 1877, and May 27, 1878.] 

PRE-EMPTION HOMESTEAD AFFIDAVIT. 

. I, , having changed my pre-emption declaratory statement No. , filed 

the day of , 18 — , alleging settlement the day of , 18 — , for the sec- 
tion No. , in township No. , of range No. , to homestead entry original No. , 

district of lands subject to entry at , under the acts of Congress approved March 3, 1877, 

6 



82 

and May 27, 1878, do solemnly swear that I have never had the benefit of any right of pre- 
emption under section 2259 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States; that I have not here- 
tofore filed a pre-emption declaratory statement for another tract of land; that I was not the 
owner of three hundred and twenty acres of land in any State or Territory of the United States 
at any time during the above-mentioned period of settlement under the pre-emption statutes; 

that I did not remove from my own land within the State of to make the settlement above 

referred to; nor have I settled upon and improved said land to sell the same on speculation, 
but in good faith to appropriate it to my exclusive use or benefit; and that I did not, during 
the period of pre-emption settlement above mentioned, directly or indirectly, make any agree- 
ment or contract, in any way or manner, with any person or persons whatsoever, by which 
the title which I might acquire from the Government of the United States would inure, in 
whole or in part, to the benefit of any person except myself. 



I, , of the Land Office , do hereby certify that the above affidavit was 

subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 



[No. 39.] 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD.— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1879. 

Application ) Land Office at , 

No. . 5 {Date) , 18—. 

I, , of , do hereby apply to enter, under the act of March 3, 1879, the 

of section , in township , of range , containing acres, as additional to 



my entry No. , for the of , section , in township , of range 

Land Office at — 



{Date) , 18 — . 

I, , register of the Land Office, do hereby certify that the above application is 

for surveyed lands of the class which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under the act 
of March 3, 1879, and that there is no prior valid adverse right to the same. 

, Register. 



[No. 40.] ■ 

ADDITIONAL HOMESTEAD.— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1879. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at . 

(Date) . 18 — , 

I, ■ , of , having filed my application, No. , for an entry under the 

act of March 3, 1879, do solemnly swear that [here state whether the applicant is tin Iread of a 

family, or over twenty-one years of age; whether a citizen of the United States, or has fled his 

declaration of intention of becoming such ; or, if under twenty-one years of age, that he has served 

not less than fourteen days in the Army or Navy of the United States during actual war"] ; that 

said application No. is made for my exclusive benefit; and that said entry is made for 

the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not. directly or indirectly, for the use or 

benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever, and that I have not heretofore had the 

benefit of said act. 



Sworn to and subscribed, this day of , before 



Register, [or Receiver.'] 



83 

[No. 41] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States.) 
nOMESTEAD DECLARATION. 

No. . Land Office at ; 

{Date) , 18-. 

I» , do hereby declare and give notice that I claim for a homestead, under 

section 2304 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States, granting homesteads to honorably- 
discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and orphans, the of section , of town- 
ship , of range , containing acres; and I farther declare that I take the said 

tract of land for actual settlement and cultivation, and for my own use and benefit. 



Per 



His Attorney in fact. 



[No. 42.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Eevised Statutes of the United States.) 

application. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the 

United States, the of section , of township , of range , containing acres ; 

and for which I filed my declaration on the day of , through , my 

duly-appointed agent. 



I, , register of the Land Office at , do hereby certify that 

filed the above application at this office on the day of • , and that he has taken the 

oath and paid the fees and commissions prescribed by law. 



-, Register. 



[No. 43.] 
SOLDIER'S HOMESTEAD. 

(Section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United States.) 
AFFIDAVIT. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) -, 18—. 

I, , of , do solemnly swear that I am a , of the age of twenty-one 

years, and a citizen of the United States; that I served for ninety days in company , 

regiment, United States volunteers; that I was mustered into the United States military ser- 
vice the day of , and was honorably discharged therefrom on the day of ; 

that I have since borne true allegiance to the Government; and that I have made my applica- 
tion, No. , to enter a tract of land under section 2304 of the Revised Statutes of the United 

States, giving homesteads to honorably-discharged soldiers and sailors, their widows and 
orphan children; that I have made said application in good faith; and that I take said home- 
stead for the purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and for my own exclusive use and 
benefit, and for the use and benefit of no other person or persons whomsoever; and that I 
have not heretofore acquired a title to a tract of land under the homestead laws, or voluntarily 
relinquished or abandoned an entry heretofore made under said laws: So help me God. 



Sworn to and subscribed before me, , register of the Land Office at ; this 

— day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 



84 

[No. 44.] 

ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES OF 

THE UNITED STATES. 

APPLICATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 



(Date) , 18—. 

!; , of county, State of , being entitled to the benefits of section 

2306 of the Revised Statutes of the United States, granting additional lands to soldiers and 

sailors who served in the war of the rebellion, do hereby apply to enter the of section 

, of township ; - of range , containing acres, as additional to my original 

homestead on the of section , of township , of range ; containing 

acres, which I entered , 18— , per homestead No. . 



Land Office at . 

(Date) , 18—. 

I; , register of the Land Office at ; do hereby certify that 

filed the above application before me for the tract of land therein described, and that he has 
paid the fee and commissions prescribed by law. 



-, Register. 



[No. 45.] 



ADDITIONAL ENTRY UNDER SECTION 2306 OF THE REVISED STATUTES 

OF THE UNITED STATES. 

Land Office at . 



(Date) , 18—. 

Final Certificate ) ( Application 

No. . $ \ No. . 

It is hereby certified tbat, pursuant to the provisions of section 2306 of the Revised Statutes 

of the United States, has paid the fee and commissions, and made entry of the 

of section , of township , of range , containing acres, which added to 



the quantity embraced in his original homestead No. , on which he has made final proof, 

as per certificate No. , does not exceed 160 acres. 

Now, therefore, be it known that, on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of 

the General Land Office, the said shall be entitled to a patent for the tract of 

land above described. 

, Register. 



[No. 46.] 
INDIAN HOMESTEAD UNDER ACT MARCH 3, 1875. 

AFFIDAVIT. 

I, , of , having filed my application No. , for an entry under the 

provisions of the act of Congress of March 3, 1875, do solemnly swear that I am an Indian, 

formerly of the tribe; that I was born in the United States; that I have abandoned my 

relations with that tribe and adopted the habits and pursuits of civilized life; [here state whether 
the applicant is twenty-one years of age, or the head of a family;] that I desire said land for the 
purpose of actual settlement and cultivation, and not, directly or indirectly, for the use or 
benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever ; and that I have not heretofore had the 
benefit of said act. 



Sworn and subscribed before me this dav of , 18- 



Register, [or Receiver.] 



85 

[No. 47.] 

CORROBORATIVE AFFIDAVIT— INDIAN HOMESTEAD— UNDER ACT MARCH 

3, 1875. 

and do solemnly swear that we are well acquainted with 



•■ , and know that he is an Indian, formerly of the tribe; that he was born 

in the United States; that he has abandoned his relations with that tribe, and adopted the 
habits and pursuits of civilized life; [here state that he is twenty-one years of age, or, if not, 
that he is the head of a family. ] 



Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of , 18- 



[No. 48.] 
TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

Application No. . 

I, , hereby apply to enter, under the provisions of the act of June 14, 1878, 

entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the 

Western Prairies/" the of section , in township , of range , containing 

acres. 



Land Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

I, , register of the Land Office, do hereby certify that the above application is 

for the class of lands which the applicant is legally entitled to enter under the provisions of 

the timber-culture act of June 14, 1878; that there is no prior valid adverse right to the 

same, and that the land therein described, together with the lands heretofore entered under 

this act and the acts of which this is amendatory in the said section, does not exceed one 

quarter thereof. 

, Begister. 



[No. 49.] 

TIMBER-CULTURE— ACT OF JUNE 14, 1878. 

affidavit. 

Land Office at , 

{Date) , 18—. 

I, , having filed my application No. , for an entry under the provisions 

of an act entitled "An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber 

on the Western Prairies/ " approved June 14, 1878, do solemnly that I am the head of 

a family, [or over twenty-one years of age, ~\ and a citizen of the United States, \_or have de- 
clared my intention to become such;~\ that the section of land specified in my said application is 
composed exclusively of prairie lands, or other lands devoid of timber; that this filing and 
entry is made for the cultivation of timber, and for my own exclusive use and benefit; that I 
have made the said application in good faith, and not for the purpose of speculation, or di- 
rectly or indirectly for the use or benefit of any other person or persons whomsoever; that I 
intend to hold and cultivate the land, and to fully comply with the provisions of this said act; 
and that I have not heretofore made an entry under this act, or the acts of which this is 
amendatory. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this dav of , 18 — . 



86 

[No. 50.] 

TIMBER-CULTURE. 

Receiver's Receipt, > c Application 

No. • S \ No. . 

Receiver's Office, 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received of — the sum of dollars cents, being the amount of fee and 

compensation of register and receiver for the entry of of section , in township , 

of range , under the first section of the act of Congress approved June 14, 1878, entitled 

"An Act to amend an act entitled 'An Act to encourage the growth of timber on the Western 
Prairies.'" 

$ • , Receiver. 



[No. 51.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 18/7. 

DECLARATION. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I, , of county, of , being duly sworn, depose and declare, that 

I am a citizen of the United States, of the age of , and a resident of said county and , 

and by occupation a ; that I intend to reclaim a tract of desert land, not exceeding one 

section, by conducting water upon the same, within three years from date, under the provis- 
ions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale 
of desert lands in certain States and Territories." The desert land which I intend to reclaim 

does not exceed one section, and is situated in county, in the land district, and is 

described as follows, to wit : the of section No. , township No. , range No. ; 

containing acres. I further depose, that I have made no other declaration for desert 

lands under the provisions of said act; that the land above described will not, without irriga- 
tion, produce an agricultural crop ; that there is no timber growing upon said land ; that 
there is not, to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or lode of quartz, or other 
rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or any deposit of coal; that 
there is not within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any placer, cement, gravel, or 
other valuable mineral deposit or salines; that no portion of said land is claimed for mining 
purposes, under the local customs or rules of miners or otherwise; that no portion of said 
land is worked for mineral during any part of the year by any person or persons ; that said 

land is essentially non-mineral land ; that I became acquainted with said land by ; and 

that my declaration therefor is not made for the purpose of fraudulently obtaining title to 
mineral land, timber land, or agricultural land, but for the purpose of faithfully reclaiming, 
within three years from the date hereof, by conducting water thereon, a tract of land which is 
desert land within the meaning of the act. 



Land Office at , 

( Date) . 18—. 

I hereby certify that the foregoing declaration was this day sworn to and subscribed bo- 
fore me. 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 



87 

[No. 52.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

AFFIDAVIT. 

No. . Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18—. 

I. , of county, , being duly sworn, declare, upon oath, that I am a 

resident of said county and ; that I am of the age of , and by occupation a ; 



that I am well acquainted with the character of each and every legal subdivision of the fol- 
lowing-described land : the section No. , township No. , range No. , con- 
taining acres ; that I became acquainted with said land by ; that I have been 

acquainted with it for years last past; that I have frequently passed over it; that my 

knowledge of said land is snch as to enable me to testify understanding^ concerning it; that 
the same is desert land within the meaning of the second section of the act of Congress ap- 
proved March 3, 1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States 
and Territories;" that said land will not, without artificial irrigation, produce any agricul- 
tural crop ; that no agricultural crop has ever been raised or cultivated on said land for the 
reason that it does not contain sufficient moisture for successful cultivation ; that the same is 
essentially dry and arid land, wholly unfit for cultivation without artificial irrigation; that 
said land cannot be successfully cultivated -without reclamation by conducting water thereon; 
that said land has hitherto been unappropriated, unoccupied, and unsettled, because it has 
been impossible to cultivate it successfully on account of its dry and arid condition ; that it is 
a fact well known, patent, and notorious, that the same will not, in its natural condition, pro- 
duce any crop, that the land is the ; that there is no timber growing thereon, but that it 

is devoid of timber ; that there is not, to my knowledge, within the limits thereof, any vein or 
lode of quartz, or other rock in place, bearing gold, silver, cinnabar, lead, tin, or copper, or 
any deposit of coal ; that there is not, within the limits of said land, to my knowledge, any 
placer, cement, gravel, or other valuable mineral deposit or salines ; that no portion of said 
land is claimed for mining purposes under the local customs or rules of miners or otherwise ; 
that no portion of said land is worked for mineral during any part of the year by any person 
or persons ; that said land is essentially non-mineral land ; that I am not interested in any 
way or manner, directly or indirectly, present or prospective, in any application or declara- 
tion made or to be made for said land, or in the land itself, or in the title which may by any 
person or in any manner be acquired thereto. 



[No. 53.] 

No. . United States Land Office, 

, 18-. 

It is hereby certified that under the provisions of the act of Congress approved March 3, 
1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Territories/' 
* has this day filed in this office his declaration of intention to reclaim the fol- 
lowing-described tract of land, viz: ; that he has proven to our satisfaction that the 

said tract of land is desert land as defined in the second section of said act, and that he has 

paid to the receiver the sum of dollars, being at the rate of twenty-five cents per acre for 

the land above described. 

It is, therefore, further certified, that if within three years from the date hereof the said 

— ; , his heirs or legal representatives, shall satisfactorily prove that the said land 

has been reclaimed by carrying water thereon, and shall pay to the receiver the additional 
sum of one dollar per acre for the land above described, he or they shall be entitled to receive 
a patent therefor under the provisions of the said act. 

, Begister. 

$ . , Eeceiver. 

Note. — The word "heirs" is substituted in this form for the word "assignee," the Secretary of the Interior 
having declined to recognize the assignment of desert land claims. 



88 

[No. 54. J 
FINAL PKOOF UNDER THE DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

DEPOSITION OF APPLICANT. 

Ques. 1. State your name, age, occupation, and residence. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you a citizen of the United States, or, if not, have you declared your intention 
to become such? 

(If not native born, proof-record must be furnished.) 

Ans. ; . 

Ques. 3. If you have heretofore made a desert land entry, give the number and date thereof, 
and describe the land embraced therein. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you conducted water upon the land embraced in said entry, and irrigated 
the same, and reclaimed it from its former desert character, to such an extent that it will now 
produce an agricultural crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. What crops have you raised upon said land in each and every year since your first 
entry thereon under your declaration No. ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what crops, and upon 
what portion or subdivision of the land, and what amount of such crops has been actually 
produced ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What crops, if any, had been grown upon the land, or upon any portion thereof, 
and, if any, upon what portion, previous to your entry thereon? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Would the land, or any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation, have pro- 
duced any agricultural crop whatever, and, if so, what crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Was there any natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize or irrigate 
the whole or any portion thereof, and, if so, what portion ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Has the amount of water conveyed upon the land in any one season been suffi- 
cient to so irrigate the entire tract as to render the same productive, and, if so, what crop or 
crops would such irrigation produce ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the whole tract been irrigated and cultivated by you in any one season ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres been irri- 
gated or cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the date of your entry \ 

Ans. ■ . 

Ques. 13. How much water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or upon any por- 
tion under cultivation in any one season; for how long a time was it so conducted upon the 
land, and at what times or seasons ? State fully. 

Ans. ■ . 

Ques. 14. In what manner was such water conveyed upon the land, whether by pipes or 
ditches, and how was it distributed over and through the soil ? State particularly and in 
detail, and describe the ditches as to their width, depth, direction through or around the land, 
and give the length of each. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. Have you at this time the right and proprietorship of water sufficient and avail- 
able to continue the irrigation of this tract and make perpetual reclamation of the land, and is 
it your purpose bo to continue its use upon this land, and for the purposes of such reclama- 
tion '! 

Ans. . 






89 

Ques. 18. How was such right or proprietorship obtained, and by what tenure do you now 
hold the same ? 

(Duly verified abstract of title must be furnished.) 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. Have you the sole and entire interest in said entry, and in the tract covered 
thereby, and the water appropriated to irrigate the same ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. Has any other person, individual, or company of individuals any interest what- 
ever in said entry, tract, or water appropriation ? If so, give the name, residence, and occu- 
pation of each such person, and the nature, amount, and extent of such interest. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 19. Have you made or become the assignee of any other entry, or have you any 

interest; direct or indirect, in any other entry under the desert land act? 

Ans. . 

{Signature.) . 

I hereby certify that each question and answer in the foregoing deposition was read 

to the applicant before signed name thereto, and that the same was subscribed and 

sworn to before me tbis day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

Note. — The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to the fol- 
lowing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascer- 
tained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law: 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 

Sec. 5392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, 
depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 
is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe 
to be true, is guilty of perjury, and shall be punished by a fine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any court of the United States until such time as the judgment against him is reversed. [See 
sec. 1750.'] 



[No. 55.] 
[ The deposition of two witnesses, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.] 

FINAL PROOF UNDER THE DESERT LAND ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877, 

DEPOSITION OF WITNESS. 

Ques. 1. State your name, age, residence, and occupation. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. Are you acquainted with , who made desert land entry No. > on 

the day of , A. D. 18 — , upon the ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 3. How long have you known the party who made this entry ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. Have you personal knowledge of tbis land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Has water been conducted upon the land embraced in said entry so as to irrigate 
and reclaim the same from its former desert condition to such extent that the. same will pro- 
duce an agricultural crop ? 
. Ans. . 

Ques. 0. What crops have been raised upon said land in each and every year since its first 
entry by , under declaration No. , and by whom ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. How many acres have been sown or planted in each year, in what crops, and upon 
what portion or subdivision of the land, and what amount of crops have been produced thereon, 
and by whom ? 

Ans. . 



\ 



90 

Ques. 8. What crops, if any, had been grown upon the land or upon any portion thereof, 
previous to the entry of thereon ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 9. Would the land, or. any portion of it, by cultivation without irrigation have pro- 
duced any agricultural crop whatever, and if so, what crop ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. Was there any natural water supply upon such land sufficient to fertilize or irri- 
gate the whole, or any portion thereof, and if so, what portion ? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Has the amount of water conveyed upon said land by in any one 

season been sufficient to so irrigate the entire tract as to render the same productive, and if 
so, what crop or crops would such irrigation produce"? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Has the whole tract been irrigated and cultivated by in any one 

season ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 13. Has each smallest legal subdivision or portion of less than forty acres been irri- 
gated or cultivated either during one season or different seasons since the date of entry? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 14. How much water per acre has been conducted upon the land, or upon any portion 
under cultivation in any one season ; for how long a time was it so conducted upon the land, 
and at what times or seasons? State fully. 

Ans. . 

Ques. 15. In what manner was such water conveyed upon the land, whether by pipes or 
ditches, and how was it distributed over and through the soil ? State particularly and in 
detail, and describe the ditches as to their width, depth, direction through or around the tract, 
and give the length of each. 

Ans. . 

Ques 16. Has at this time the right and proprietorship of water sufficient 

and available to continue the irrigation of this tract and make perpetual reclamation of the 
land ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 17. How did you become acquainted with the facts relative to the irrigation of said 
land? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 18. Have you any interest, direct or indirect, in this entry, in the land covered thereby, 
or in the water supply used in its irrigation ? 

.Ans. . 

(Signature.} . 

I hereby CERTIFY that witness is a person of respectability ; that each question and 

answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto, 

and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this day of , 18 — . 

, Register. 

, Receiver. 

Note. — The officer before whom the deposition is taken should call the attention of the witness to the follow- 
ing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it be ascertained 
that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law: 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 1. 

Seo. 6392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person, in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to be administered, that he will testify, declare, 
depose, or certify truly, or that any written testimony, declaration, deposition, or certificate by him subscribed 
is true, willfully and contrary to such oath states or subscribes any material matter which he does not believe 
to he true, is guilty of perjury, ami shall be punished by a tine of not more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard labor, not more than live years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, lie incapable of giving 

testimony in any court of the United states until such time as the judgment againsl him Is reversed. [See 
sec. 1750.] 



91 

"[No. 56.] 
DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

Receiver's Final Receipt, No. . Declaration No. 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 18—. 

Received from , of county, , the sum of dollars and cents, 

being final payment of one dollar per acre for the containing acres, at one dollar 

and twenty-five cents per acre, the sum of twenty-five cents per acre having heen heretofore 

paid, as per original receipt No. . 

, Receiver. 



[No. 57.] 

DESERT LAND— ACT OF MARCH 3, 1877. 

Register's Final Certificate No. . Declaration No, 

Land Office at 



(Date) , 13—. 

It is hereby certified that, in pursuance of the act of Congress approved March 3. 
1877, entitled "An Act to provide for the sale of desert lands in certain States and Terri- 
tories/' , of county, State or Territory of , has purchased of the regis- 
ter of this office, and made payment in full for the land described as follows, to wit : , 

containing acres, at the rate of one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre, amounting to 

dollars. 

Now, therefore, be it known, that on presentation of this certificate to the Commissioner of 

the General Land Office the said shall be entitled to receive a patent for the 

tract of land above desciibed. 

, Register. 

[Note. — See original declaration and receipt, No. — .] 



[No. 58.] 
SWORN STATEMENT UNDER ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

Land Office at , 

(Date) , 18— 

I, , of county, , desiring to avail myself of the provisions of the act 

of Congress of June 3, 1878, entitled "An Act for the sale of timber lands in the States of 

California, Oregon, Nevada, and in Washington Territory/' for the purchase of the of 

section , township , of range , do solemnly that I * ; that the said land 

is unfit for cultivation, and valuable chiefly for its ; that it is uninhabited ; that it con- 
tains no mining or other improvements ; nor, as I verily believe, any valuable deposit of 

gold, silver', cinnabar, copper, or coal ; that I have made no other application under said act; 
that I do not apply to purchase the land above described on speculation, but in good faith to 
appropriate it to my own exclusive use and benefit ; and that I have not, directly or indirectly, 
made any agreement or contract, in atiy way or manner, with any person or persons whom- 
soever, by which the title which I may acquire from the Government of the United States 
may inure in whole or in part to the benefit of any person except myself. 

Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of . 18 — . 



* In case the partj' has been naturalized, or has declared his intention to become a citizen, a certified copy 
of his certificate of naturalization or declaration of intention, as the case may be, must be furnished. 



92 

[No. 59.]" 
The testimony of two witnesees, in this form, taken separately, required in each case.) 

TESTIMONY OF WITNESS UNDER ACT OF JUNE 3, 1878. 

-, being called as a witness in support of the application of to 



purchase the of section , township , of range , testifies as follows 

Ques. 1. What is your post-office address, and where do you reside ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 2. What is your occupation? 

Ans. . 

Qaes. 3. Are you acquainted with the land above described by personal inspection of each 
of its smallest legal subdivisions ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 4. When and in what manner was such inspection made? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 5. Is it occupied ; or are there any improvements on it not made for ditch or canal 
purposes, or which were not made by, or do not belong to, the said applicant 1 

Ans. . 

Ques. 6. Is it fit for cultivation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 7. What causes render it unfit for cultivation ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 8. Are there any salines, or indications of deposits of gold, silver, cinnabar, copper, 
or coal on this land ? If so, state what they are, and whether the springs or mineral deposits 
are valuable. 

Ans. -. 

Ques. 9. Is the land more valuable for mineral or any other purposes than for the timber 
or stone thereon, or is it chiefly valuable for timber or stone ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 10. From what facts do you conclude that the land is chiefly valuable for timber or 
stone ? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 11. Do you know whether the applicant has directly or indirectly made any agree- 
ment or contract, in any way or manner, with any person whomsoever, by which the title 
wiiich he may acquire from the Government of the United States may inure, in whole or in 
part, to the benefit of any person except himself? 

Ans. . 

Ques. 12. Are you in any way interested in this application, or in the lands above described, 
or the timber or stone, salines, mines, or improvements of any description whatever thereon? 

Ans. . 



I hereby CERTIFY that witness is a person of respectability: that each question and 

answer in the foregoing testimony was read to before signed name thereto, 

and that the same was subscribed and sworn to before me this dav of , 18 — . 



Note. — The officer before whom the testimony is taken should call the attention of the -witness to the fol- 
lowing section of the Revised Statutes, and state to him that it is the purpose of the Government, if it b< 
tained that he testifies falsely, to prosecute him to the full extent of the law: 

Title lxx.— CRIMES.— Ch. 4. 
Seo. 6392. Every person who, having taken an oath before a competent tribunal, officer, or person in any 
case in which a law of the United States authorizes an oath to he administered, that lie win testify, declare, 
depoBe, or certify truly, or that any writtt d testimony, declaration, de] osition, or certificate by him Bubsci il ed 
i.- true, w i! H'u ll;. and contrary to such oath states and subscribes an j material matter which he does not believe 
to be hue. ig guilt} of perjury, and Bhal] be punished bj b Rne of aol more than two thousand dollars, and by 
imprisonment, at hard laboi qo1 more than five years, and shall, moreover, thereafter, be incapable of giving 
testimony in any eourt of the United stales until such time as the judgment againsl bim is reversed. [See 
sec. 1760.] 



93 



UNITED STATES LAND OFFICES. 



Alabama. 


Dakota Ter. 


! Michigan. 


Nebraska — Cont'd. 


Hunts ville. 


Sioux Falls. 


Detroit. 


Grand Island. 


Montgomery. 


Springfield. 


East Saginaw. 


North Platte. 
Bloomington. 


Arkansas. 


Fargo. 


Reed City. 


Nevada. 


Little Rock. 


Yankton. 


Marquette. 


Carson City.' 


Camden. 


Bismarck. 


Minnesota. 


Eureka. 


Harrison. 


Deadwood. 


Taylor's Falls. 


New Mexico Ter. 


Dardanelle. 


Florida. 


Saint Cloud. 


Santa Fe. 


Arizona Ter. 


Gainesville. 


Du Luth. 


La Mesilla. 


Prescott. 




Fergus Falls. 


Oregon. 


Florence. 


Idaho Ter. 


Worthhigton. 


Oregon City. 
Rosebui g. 


California. 


Boise City. 


New Ulm. 


Le Grand. 


San Francisco. 


Lewiston. 


Benson. 


Lakeview. 


Marys ville. 


Oxford. 


Crookston. 


The Dalles. 


Humboldt. 


Iowa. 


Redwood Falls. 


Utah Ter. 


Stockton. 


Des Moines. 


! Mississippi. 


Salt Lake City. 


Visalia. 




Jackson. 


Washington Ter. 


Sacramento. 


■ Kansas. 


Missouri. 


Olympia. 


Los Angeles. 


Topeka. 


Boo n ville. 


Vancouver. 




Sal in a 




Walla Walla. 


Shasta. 


KJlhll-llClm 


Ironton. 




Susan ville. 


Independence. 


Springfield. 


Colfax. 
Wisconsin. 


Bodie. 


Wichita. 


Montana Ter. 


Men ash a. 


Colorado. 


Kirwin. 


Helena. 


Falls of St. Croix. 


Denver City. 


Concordia. 


Bozeman. 


Wausau. 


Lead ville. 


Larned. 


Nebraska. 


La Crosse. 


Central City. 


Wa-Keeney. 


Norfolk. 


Bayfield. 
Eau Claire. 


Pueblo. 


Louisiana. 


Beatrice. 

! 


Wyoming Ter. 


Del Norte. 


New Orleans. 


Lincoln. 


. Cheyenne. 


Lake City. 


I Natchitoches. 


Niobrara. 


Evanston. 



Note.— By act of July 31, 1876, the land-offices in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were aholished; and by act of 
March 3, 1877, the vacant tracts of public land in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are made subject to entry and 
location at the General Land Office, Washington, D. C. (See Regulations, on pages 22 and 23.) 



CIRCULAR 



FROM 



THE GENERAL LAND OFFICE, 



SHOWING 



THE MANNER OF PROCEEDING 



TO 



OBTAIN TITLE TO PUBLIC LANDS UNDER THE PRE- 
EMPTION, HOMESTEAD, TIMBER CULTURE, 
AND OTHER LAWS. 



ISSUED SEPTEMBER 1, 1879. 



WASHINGTON: 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 

1879. 



